Media and the Criminal Justice System

Americans have given up some of their freedoms to be protected by the United States, so they have a right to be informed. In the majority of the all the discussion boards, the classmates agreed that the media creates problems. By giving stories more attention than others, the media creates problems. The media tends to focus more on seriously violent crimes more than missing, or kidnapping cases. According to Champion, in the portrayal of both offenders and victims of crimes in the media there is a "significant focus on high profile crimes as well as societal ills related to crime and victimization" (Champion 2007). In addition, the media reports stories that can make money, and to draw viewership. These are important to the media because without the funding the media wont be able to report from different places across the U.S., and without the support of the public looking them, the media will lose its only audience. The media plays a significant role in public safety by keeping the public aware of crime increase, violence, and fugitives. This allows the community to take action to promote their safety. Americans put a lot of trust into the media in hopes that everything they report is honest and fair.

The media is an extremely powerful source in society today. Surprisingly, many are unaware of this and choose to believe everything they read in magazines, newspapers and online without actually understanding where this information is coming from. This is a monumental problem in our generation today because like Malcolm X said, the media has the power to make the innocent look guilty and the guilty look innocent. In other words, the media has the power to manipulate our views and perspectives on controversial issues to persuade us to believe their

This paper will be covering the controversial case of the shooting of Trayvon Martin at the hands of George Zimmerman. This was a polarizing trial for it pitted gun rights activists against gun-control activists and people who were generally against the new gun rhetoric that is in Florida. George Zimmerman was the neighborhood watch for the gated community and would always do his job diligently. However, one night he witnessed someone in a grey hoodie walking on the sidewalk wearing a hoodie. Zimmerman thought this person was suspicious and continued to follow him. After Zimmerman called in that he was following this individual, he was told not to leave his vehicle. Instead, he followed the person into who knows where and the rest of the story is up for debate. The defense team stated that Trayvon had jumped out of the bushes and begun to attack Zimmerman violently to the point where he felt that his life was in danger. The prosecution believed that Zimmerman had initiated a fight with Trayvon and he was at the mercy of Zimmerman at gunpoint for a significant amount of time.

Trayvon Martin was a victim of wilding. George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin, a 17 years old African American boy. Zimmerman is a neighborhood watch volunteer who spotted Martin and follow the allegedly suspicious person. Martin was unarmed during the altercation between the two of them. Zimmerman claimed self-defense and shot Martin. Martin was portrayed as a threat to society. Martin was walking back to his father home in the rain from the convenience store. He was carrying a bag of skittles and a drink. Martin was an innocent boy who was killed by Zimmerman. Zimmerman is an ultimate wilder. “He personified those twenty-first century gun toting Americans, viewing themselves as vigilantes protecting the public and themselves” (p.

The Huffington Post continued to investigate the murder alongside the American judicial system. In an article “Trayvon Martin Shooting: Voice Experts Claim Cries Heard On 911 Call Were Not George Zimmerman’s,” A local newspaper, “The Orlando Sentinel consulted two voice experts to try to settle the debate, and both came to the same conclusion: The cries could not have come from George Zimmerman.” The article stated, “One expert, Tom Owen, used voice identification software to rule out Zimmerman as the source. From his findings he explained in laymen’s detail, “I took all of the screams and put those together, and cut out everything else,” Owen says. He continued,

Different forms of media, such as television, films, books, and newspapers, have similar ways of portraying the criminal justice system. The media constructs representations of crime and justice and in doing this, it presents an often dramatized representation of the criminal justice system; and this does not just influence on the public’s lay view of crime but also for criminal justice experts (Marsh, 2014). In the media it is commonly known that they are a business, and businesses need to make a profit. Because of this, the media’s portrayal of the criminal justice system has been very negative. With the news, their main purpose is to produce what sells. So many of them would edit the information they have gathered and make a story that will sell. Also the media does not show the full process of the criminal justice as a quick process, while in fact it is not. For example, last year, Netflix released a short series called “Making A Murderer”. Most people claimed that they feel like they can solve a crime when they finished watching a series. While that series is very factual, it does not hit every single step of the criminal justice process.

In society today, many people struggle with racism, classism, sexism and discrimination. In the film, Out in the Night, these struggles are portrayed through four low class African American lesbians. They were convicted for assaulting a homophobic man, whom was clearly the one at fault. These women were never given a fair chance to be proven innocent. From the very beginning, injustices were seen from all angles including the police, media and the criminal justice system. These groups incorporated essentialism to emphasize their intersectional identities to create a fearful and hostile environment, which lead to a biased trial.

The fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin took place at night on February 26, 2012, in Sanford, Florida. Trayvon Martin was a junior in high school, and was temporarily staying the gated community (which was a multicultural community) that George Zimmerman a 28 year-old mixed race White/ Hispanic was the watch coordinator for. According to Zimmerman 's subsequent testimony, Zimmerman shot Martin, who was unarmed, during an altercation between the two. The police arrived shortly after the altercation came to a stop due to a call previously made by Zimmerman. After the police took Zimmerman into custody, he was treated for bodily injury to the head, face, and upper body which he sustained during the fight with Trayvon Martin. He was then questions for approximately 4-5 hours and with no real substantial evidence that disproves Zimmerman’s claim to have been acting in self-defense and due to the

News outlets are extremely selective in which stories they present to the public and often choose the new report that is going to appeal to their audience, such as criminal activities. According to Dorfman, mainstream media often only focuses on violent crimes such as homicides, which have dropped almost 33 percent from 1990 to 1998, in contrast the reporting of these crimes on television has increased an astonishing 473 percent. In addition, Ghandnoosh states that in Los Angeles, 37 percent of the criminals shown on television were black, yet African American only account for the 21 percent of arrests. Also, Ghandnoosh explains that only 10 percent of whites were victimized by blacks, but these particular crimes accounted for 42 percent of televised reports. It has been highly regarded that the news creates negative connotations about African Americans that subsequently impacts how society view these individuals.

The processing of a crime scene is the most important step in beginning the investigation into a crime. While the majority of crime scenes are very routine, there are many factors that can present unique challenges to investigators and detectives. Some of these challenging factors include outside forces such as, the media and public. This challenge also ties into the media’s presentation on law enforcement and forensics. The media is at times only concerned about their viewers and increasing their ratings, instead of reporting on the full story and facts that are provided by law enforcement and the investigators. The media presents an extreme challenge when they report information that could compromise the investigation or interview witness before detectives have the opportunity to take official statements. (Seddon & Pass pg.65)

The first amendment grants the press open access to trials and court records due to it’s ideological premise of a functioning “democratic society”(Gerald, 1991, p. 4) and that a public and open court system has been a historic convention in the United States. Part of keeping keeping the system of government in check and is allowing public observation and constructive criticism (Burrows, 1982; ::?::).The additive that the press serves to keep the public informed about the workings of the democracy, has clashed with the court system and the sixth amendment, which ensures that defendants have fair and unbiased trials, regardless of the criminal accusations or public opinion (Gerald, 1991). There has in addition been some concern and protections put in place to protect the privacy and right of victims (Burrows, 1982; Gerald, 1991), especially in the cases of rape or juvenile victims. Thus, the first amendment guarantees the press access to information on governmental processes including criminal trials, arrest records and other public records regarding the criminal justice system (Burrows 1982; Gerald 1983; ::?:: ), excluding those cases temporarily or permanently redacted, where legally allowed to protect the interests of victims and the accused.

Crime is an inevitable phenomenon that happens every day in our lives. Crime is thought as a fascinating event, although it is frowned upon and seen as an evil act. Mass media shows how intrigued we are with crime, because it rules over media coverage with negative elements. Media has become an important way to gain information in our society, although is media a proper approach to gaining the truth. Media has been known to stretch the truth and provide an over-representation of crime occurrence. Media coverage often on crime often is provided with a point of view, also tends to lack important information. Media has become a part of our everyday lives, so can media be a valid source for information on crime. Media reports on crime are they accurate and how it may affect the public.

The media holds a great deal of power in the portrayal of crime within a society; they have the authoritarian right to manipulate events of crime from their perspectives which is illustrated frequently as being reality without a definite underlying cause, therefore inevitably they influence the publics perspective towards crime and current the social order, the main relationship between the media and the crime is the effect it has towards the members of the society I.e creating a moral panic.

Societies media as we know it has altered the reality of The United States law and its courts, causing the real world to become more of a blur. Media has given people somewhat of a basic aspect of the law and how it works, but little do people know what television shows such as Bones, CSI, Law and Order, Judge Judy, and etc., has inaccurate ruling of the laws and procedures. Giving a shrouded haze over our eyes in believing that the law system takes merely minutes to process. People need to understand that it is not all about the drama and the intensity of the scene, but knowledge and skills it takes for a proper court to function. Individuals need realize that our Law, which derives from our infamous constitution, is what protects and regulates not only our lives, but also everything that is justice around us. Within this paper I will be talking about three major points that I believe that are important to the readers mind. First, is to announce my views of the distortion that media has created for humanity to be less educated of the actual law and court system. Second, is to inform the readers of how law works in the real world and significant differences between the real law and what media has perceived law to look like. With readers both informed of the real and non-real sides of the law, I will lastly give a brief story of my own experience of going to court. The law is here to protect our rights and freedom, yet somehow media has create a great amount profit in

Public knowledge of a crime is predominantly obtained from the media. Crime-related media such as crime on the news and crime-dramas has proven to serve as a great impact in how countless individuals feel about the world surrounding them, and even more importantly, how they feel about the criminals portrayed by the media. This research paper examines the role the media plays on influencing the way people perceive the relationship and punitive attitudes between race and crime.