False Representation Of Crime In The Media

Grimes, J. N. (2010 January-December). The social construction of social problems: "Three Strikes and You 're Out" in the mass media. Journal of Criminal Justice and Law, 2(1-2), 39-56. doi:Ebscohost database

The Influence of the Media in Shaping the Public's Understanding of Crime With the rise of the mass media throughout the world, predominantly the Western world, the issue of media influence has become a serious one. Due to media’s primary obsession with crime and violence, it definitely has a negative influence on shaping peoples understanding of crime by exaggerating it. A branch of media which always exaggerates on some crime e.g. terrorist attacks then other crimes is TV news this is basically an oxymoron; giving us the skin of the truth stuffed with a lie. TV news broadcasts use dramatic, usually violent stories and images to capture and maintain an audience, under the pretence of keeping it

It 's not difficult to gauge what the popular notions of crime in the United States are. Engage in any polite conversation over dinner or cocktails and one is likely to hear similar themes: "crime is out of control, it 's just not the same world we grew up in, it 's not safe to walk down the street anymore, it 's a mean world out there," etc. The underlying theme that can be drawn from these notions is fear. There is a widespread conception that crime is a rampant problem in this country and that violent crime and others are on the rise. However, these beliefs are not supported at all by the facts, even those put forth by our own law enforcement agencies. So why then, are most

A large number of articles nowadays consistently debates about the way crime is shown throughout the media is in fact incredibly different from what official research and other records tell us, this is showing how the media misrepresents the nature of crime. Below will provide an overview of how the media misrepresent evidence for real-life crime and how they do this. It is seen that the media is the public’s primary source about crime and this has helped to the exploitation of the inaccuracy with presenting the nature of crime.

One of the largest ways the media influences public opinions is through the news. News outlets report on local and world events, often applying their own bias to advance an agenda (Cavender, 2004). In general, entertainment television depicts crime, especially violent crime, far more often than it actually occurs in the real world (O’Keefe, 1987). Crime is more often than not presented to the public in two ways: crime is violent and criminals are nonwhite (Gilliam, et al, 1996). When put together, these two factors have

What factors contribute to this significant gap between perceptions of violent crime and the reality of it? When asked where they obtain their information about crime, an overwhelming plurality of random participants ages 13 to 59 responded with the mass media (Warr, 2013). In the context of this survey and also this paper, the mass media is defined as diverse mainstream media technologies intended to reach a widespread audience (Warr, 2013). This encompasses all television, radio, internet, and paper outlets which broadcast to a wide range of audiences

Media's Representation of the Nature and Extent of Crime in Britain There is continuous debate on the effectiveness of media reporting with regards to informing the public about crime. The media have motive, methods by, which they distort information, and evidence of the affects of their misinforming the public. However the media do inform the public with regards to problems in our society, without the media we would know nothing. The public also need to be thought of when trying to decipher whether the media does in fact misinform them.

In addition, all discussions boards agree that the media makes victims looks vulnerable, weak, defenseless, and in need of compassion and sympathy (Greer, p.22)

As with most controversial issues, it is clear that the media play a strong role in people’s perception and fear of crime. Psychologists have proven that cognitive biases can skew our perceptions (Fogg, 2013). Crime is very prominent is all media and Robert Reiner (1997) claims:

The public depends on the news media for its understanding of crime. Reportedly three quarters (76%) of the public say, they form their opinions about crime from what they see or read in the news (Dorfman & Schiraldi, 2001). After reviewing five hours of reality crime television shows, one is left with a very dismal look on society and a prejudice towards minorities as they are largely depicted as the perpetrators of crime. This new genre commonly referred to as reality television appears to be sweeping the nation by storm. Opinions vary, depending on whom you ask, to what extent reality plays a role versus the selling of a product. Sensationalism, advertising, ratings hype, profiling and fear all comprise the mass

One of the biggest drawbacks of today’s news reporting’s are the fact that mainstream news corporations are known to employ these various manipulative techniques and tactics in order to persuade and brainwash the minds of its viewers or readers etc. which leads to deterioration of the quality, credibility and reliability of the news and in turn defeats its own purpose. Some of the common methods of deceiving include conveniently “missing” vital and crucial words from headlines or stories, extra airtime or inadequate coverage to certain stories, asserting personal opinions rather than just providing the public with information etc. Negative publicity or spreading false, distorted or cherry picked instances targeting a specific minority group of people affects them and the community as a whole in unprecedented ways. Some notable headlines in newspapers and news channels when the suspect is white are: “Son in Staten Island murders was brilliant, athletic—but his demons were the death of parents”, and “Straight-A student plans to bomb high school”. Furthermore, when the victim is black, “Police: Slain Lakeland teen had been shot before; death, possibly drug related”, and “Deputy killed marine out of fear for children’s safety” (Wing 5-18). In the instances above, when the suspect is white the news corporations seem to go out of their way to boost the suspect’s character by interviewing relatives and in turn shedding positive light on alleged murderers. On the other hand, when the victim is black, they depict it in a way as if the black victims are to blame themselves for their death. These striking differences in the portrayal of tragic murders based on the suspect and victim’s skin color, is absolutely unsettling; not to forget it can infuriate the minority group which would only lead to more crime and violence in the society. This engenders the

The media affects the way the public perceive crime as they have almost full control on what the public sees and hears. This can lead to execrated or misleading stories in newspapers which are published to try and make more people buy the newspaper. This is because they are reliant on selling newspapers. In the media there are lots of stories on crime which can make the public feel like there is more crime happening around them then what there actually is. This will make people have crime on their minds all the time even though it might not be as common as they believe. This can be proven as over 50% of newspaper have had a story related to crime but crime has not increased in the home office statistics. The labelling theory is also a tool

Crime is an issue that has been affecting society for years now, it is a phenomenon which has always been present. It is now almost impossible to imagine a society without crime as it is something which is all around us in the news primarily in the media through the TV and internet. In a sense we do not need to experience crime directly to be affected by it. News reporting has made us far more aware of crime for better or worse. However whilst our knowledge of crime has

Media plays a crucial role in bringing the depiction to the public about the knowledge about crimes. The public’s opinion is greatly influenced by the way the media presents the crimes committed as well as the awareness of the police. This means, therefore, if the media is accountable for the reports presented on televisions, and social media platforms, the conclusions were drawn by the public about crime incidences depends on the information presented by the media (Barak, 2013). Print media industry extensively produces copies that cover crime stories to boost their industry by selling large. Stories are crafted, sensationalized with the prospects to grab the attention of the public with stories that are not always true. For instance, watching

News, in many forms, describes events and relays information to those who are interested or uniformed. Television programs, newspapers, online articles are a few forms of media that have become easily assessable. Mainstream media can also include Facebook, Twitter and other online social media sources. The main focus of this paper will be on The Akron Beacon Journal, the 10 o’clock Channel 8 news, and online news sources. In all three forms of media, the most popularized event is the recent shooting of Robert Goodwin Sr. by Steven Stephens. Limited criminal activates were reported, possibly due to the tragic event of the shooting, but the few that were reported will be described and examined.