WANA (Jun 06) – The murder of Elahe Hosseinnejad, a young Iranian woman, in June 2025, was one among many brutal killings around the world. Yet unlike most, it swiftly became a headline story in the media—not because the perpetrator was unknown or the case particularly complex, but because it had all the elements of a compelling narrative.

 

On May 25, Elahe Hosseinnejad disappeared after leaving her workplace in Tehran. Days later, her body was discovered on the outskirts of the capital. The killer, a man with a criminal record, confessed to abducting her in his car, murdering her, and leaving her body in the desert—allegedly to steal her expensive mobile phone.

 

When Media Choose Which Deaths to Amplify

Within hours of the story breaking, some media outlets began sharing the news of her death with popular hashtags, emotional storytelling, and specially designed visuals. They quickly framed Elahe as part of a familiar trope: a defenseless woman, abandoned in the wilderness, failed by a system unable to protect her.

 

Yet dozens of other femicides occurred in the same period, mostly unnoticed by the media. Was Elahe’s case the only one worthy of national attention? The unofficial—but clear—answer is this:

 

Her death was narratable. It had the ingredients for a media crisis: a young female victim, initial silence from Iranian domestic media, and a public primed for outrage.

Laken Riley, an American college student, was raped and murdered in Georgia /WANA News Agency

Laken Riley, an American college student, was raped and murdered in Georgia /WANA News Agency

Compare this with the case of Laken Riley, a U.S. college student who was raped and murdered in Georgia in February 2024 by an undocumented immigrant. American conservative media immediately linked her death to the Biden administration’s border policies.

 

In response, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the “Laken Riley Act,” requiring states to report even minor offenses by undocumented immigrants to federal authorities. The bill cleared its first legislative hurdle within three weeks of her murder—a tragedy directly turned into policy.

 

In contrast, the aftermath of Elahe Hosseinnejad’s death has so far been limited to routine legal and police follow-ups. There’s been no serious discussion about institutional reform, crime prevention policies, or even the systemic failures in rehabilitating repeat offenders. Public responses have largely consisted of condolences and promises of legal action—with no sign of structural change or policymaking momentum. And this is hardly the first case of its kind.

 

Weak Domestic Narratives Leave Space for Foreign Ones

The lack of a clear and timely narrative from domestic media left the public with a patchwork of fragmented, contradictory, and emotional information. This vacuum was quickly filled by opposition media and some online activists—not necessarily to enlighten, but often to apply political pressure and induce public anxiety.

The case of Nika Shakarami, a 16-year-old girl who died by suicide during the 2022 Mahsa Amini protests, is a striking example of what happens when internal storytelling breaks down. With little information released early on, her death became the foundation of speculative, sensational narratives claiming she was killed by the government for protesting. These accounts spread rapidly online before any formal investigation could take place.

 

By the time official documents were released, the public had already embraced the initial version as truth. The damage was done. Once people internalize the first narrative, even hard evidence may fail to change their minds.

 

In both the Elahe and Nika cases—as well as many others—the crucial factor was not just the incident itself, but when and how the media engaged. In the absence of timely, transparent reporting, control over the narrative is lost. And at that point, any explanation is easily dismissed as an excuse.

 

Patterns of External Narrative Construction

Examples of such foreign-driven media narratives include:

 

Overemphasizing the victim’s gender while ignoring the structural nature of the crime.

 

Framing the event in terms of a state-vs-people binary, suggesting that the government is inherently or deliberately indifferent to women’s safety.

 

Overlooking real legal and institutional issues—such as failures in reintegrating repeat offenders or lack of post-release monitoring systems.

 

This phenomenon is known in media analysis as selective amplification—the process by which deaths or acts of violence are only highlighted when they serve a specific political or ideological agenda.

 

In other words, the media chooses which deaths to mourn and which to ignore, based on geopolitical interests.

In 15 months of Israeli attacks 57000 people have lost their lives and 1,413 families have lost all their members due to these attacks on Gaza, with no surviving members remaining. Social media/ WANA News Agency

For example, the same outlets that portrayed Elahe’s death as a symbol of gender injustice:

 

Remain largely silent about the daily killing of children in Gaza.

 

Rarely report on racial violence against women in Western societies or the sexual abuse in European refugee shelters.

 

Not because they are unaware—but because those stories don’t fit the narrative they want to promote.

 

Can the Narrative Be Reclaimed?

At this point, the issue is not just about criminal justice or public safety—it’s about framing reality.

 

If Iranian domestic media had covered Elahe Hosseinnejad’s murder with: transparency, speed, expert analysis, and human-centered language, they could have both informed and reassured the public—while also denying hostile media the chance to exploit the tragedy for political gain.

 

Without a coherent and responsible internal narrative, every story becomes a tool in someone else’s hands.