As a new journalism student, an issue that has increasing caught my attention is the media’s role in reporting domestic violence.

Domestic violence has long been a fraught subject for the media with legal issues and cultural reasons meaning domestic violence was often not seen as ‘newsworthy’. However at least on the surface this seems to be changing.

The highly publicized murders of Luke Batty and Tara Costigan have seemed to have made the media question its handing on these stories.

But it is not only the media’s reporting of violence itself, which has shifted, but also the media’s reporting of events such as White Ribbon Day which have increased and need to increase more to address this issue.

While some news outlets have gone further and become active campaigners in the area, seen in the Herald Sun’s public pledge to, do what it can to advocate for victims of domestic violence.