The Johnny Depp and Amber Heard Case in News Media: A Critical Discourse Analysis

This article presents a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard case in news media. The aim of the current research is to allow for an in-depth analysis of how a range of news media outlets used discourse to frame intimate partner violence (IPV) in modern news media. A synthesis of previous literature revealed methodological limitations and a potential research bias in the existing body of research addressing news media discourse regarding IPV. The current study utilized a sample of 12 articles from three news media outlets of distinct political orientations that were analyzed following guidelines on maintaining quality in CDA. Two discursive strategies are presented in this article: (a) predication and argumentation; (b) the construction of ingroups and outgroups. This article argues that these strategies were used to discredit the experience of Depp and create perceived ingroups and outgroups throughout the discourse. It is also noted that this sample of articles only highlighted instances of physical violence. Future research should investigate the effect this representation of IPV may have on consumers of news media, as societal expectations may inform help seeking.