Shame and vicarious shame in the news: A case study of the Sewol ferry disaster

This study examines how shame, a psychological mechanism suppressing the violation of social norms, is reflected in the news. The results of a content analysis of the South Korean ferry disaster news stories demonstrate that shaming wrongdoers commonly appears in the news stories exposing wrongdoings. It is shown that the news media shame more often when the wrongdoings are confirmed, described in detail, their negative influences are mentioned, or punishment for them is expected. Anger against wrongdoers was the emotion most closely linked to shaming. Our results also demonstrate that shaming is more frequently activated in the Internet media. Especially, vicarious shame felt by some Koreans about other Koreans’ wrongdoings often showed up in the Korean news. Our results provide evidence that vicarious shame and its elements, like guilt, reappear intact in the news. Overall, we suggest that, through the functions of shame, wrongdoings are exposed; identity image of wrongdoers is degraded; lessons about norms are given; mediated scandals are mass-consumed; and, therefore, some of the ethical and commercial characteristics of the news are formed.