The Effect Of Media On Society's View Of Law Enforcement

It is no secret that the media is able to influence the general public’s opinion on most anything. Whether the subject is fiction or non, movies, documentaries, and the news especially, are capable of swaying the public’s opinions and perceptions one way or the other. Not even the world of law enforcement is safe from the media’s purview (Barlow, M. H. and Barlow, D. E. and Chiricos T. G., 1995), as media portrayals often romanticize law enforcement as a well oiled machine that always gets the bad guy, and has a perfect relationship with the public. On top of this, the media has displayed a poor habit of portraying crime as predominantly violent and racial, rather than showing the whole picture(Gilliam, F. D. and Iyengar, S. and Simon, A. and Wright, O., 1996). In this paper, the motives driving these depictions, as well as the scope and effect of the media’s influence on public perception of law enforcement, will be explored and discussed.

When an individual chooses a career in law enforcement they realize it can be a very rewarding, yet dangerous career path to take. Most people often hear about all the potential dangers such as officer involved shootings and physical confrontations before making the choice to join the ranks of the few who will always stand for what is right. However, today there is a new danger to law enforcement known as the mass media which adds a whole new realm of difficulty to an already taxing job. The negative effects of the media can be felt nationwide by law enforcement agencies and these effects include creating a divided community, unrealistic expectations, and the devastation of current and future law enforcement careers. This presentation

Media is everywhere nowadays. Whether it’s billboards, radio, commercials, trailers, or product placement, the media has spent the better part of a century perfecting the ability to sway public opinion. How could this not have an impact on the Criminal Justice System? There is an old saying, perception is reality. This clearly applies to the narrative shaping abilities that the media poses. Although not explicitly resulting in an effect on Criminal Justice Policy, Communication Theorist George Gerbner proposed Cultivation Theory, also known as mean world syndrome, which refers to the phenomenon that a viewer experiences when they consume too much violent media content, where in that, they begin to perceive the world as more dangerous than it actually is.

Criminology is continuously changing and developing. Advances of technology have made media our primary news source for crime. We believe the stories told by our local news media, not doubting a word because these sources are supposedly reliable. Nevertheless, they sometimes do spread false information. It may be intentional or unintentional. According to Cohen, media presence amplifies a problem which did not previously exist (Steeves and Milford, 2015) thus creating a moral panic. As media influence increases, it is necessary for criminologists to study moral panics, such as the Columbine School shootings or the Hurricane Katrina aftermath.

The media plays the role as entertaining and a source of information to its viewers, however, with the current crime trends, most viewers have the perceptions that our criminal justice system is lacking in areas of proper sentencing and protecting the viewers. All this is based upon what we see in the media is the information reliable or not? I say this because of hearing about news personality lying about their experience only to booster the networks rating. When the criminal justice system has contact with the media, most will withhold information or give misleading information to justify the capture or conviction of a criminal. So not only are we questioning the efficacy of the criminal justice system but the media as well.

For decades, civilian deaths caused by police have been a reason for concern in the United States. However, the police are not entirely to blame for their image after these events. Media plays a crucial role in how the public view law enforcement. More often than not, people form their views and opinions of police based off of what they hear and see from others; mainly the media. Stories told by press make up a small percentage of actual events. For example, an African American being shot is more likely to become a big story, even though Caucasians have actually been shot more. The media should release all information they received in as unbiased a manner as possible, to allow the public to form their own opinions. Although white privilege

Most individuals, when hearing the term “criminal justice” think of only the police force   “a group of police officers serving sectors of individuals to better the nation” (President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice, 1967, p. 7). Police officers are known to apprehend sinister criminals, to writing case reports, to handing out speeding tickets. Arguably one of the most important factors in the criminal justice system, the police force has characteristically received more attention within the past decade in the United States. With the initiation of the Obama administration, crime rate being at an all-time high, the war on terrorism and police brutality just to name a few situations, the police force has both flourished and seen phases of corruption. It is evident that the criminal-fighting force is necessary in order for society to function.

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 definition of perception could be one of two things- first, a result of perceiving or secondly, a mental image- as defined by Merriam Webster. The paper I will be writing will unsympathetically observe the nation's opinion on law enforcement over the years, discussing the influence of media representation as well as the start of police brutality. In order to examine the nation’s opinion and the effect media has on public perception we will first discuss the history of police officers.

Crime and courtroom proceedings have become a fascination for the Western society. Reality and fiction though have begun to distort the expectations of what is expected in the courtroom. These distortions deriving from television shows such as CSI, 48 Hours Mystery, American Justice, Law & Order and even, on occasion, Dateline NBC. The mass media play an important role in the construction of criminality and the criminal justice system. The public’s perception of victims, criminals, the gathering/processing of evidence, deviants, and law enforcement officials is largely determined by their portrayal in the mass media. “Research indicates that the majority of public knowledge about crime and justice is derived from the media (Roberts and Doob,

Martin Luther King Jr., an American Baptist minister, African-American civil rights activist, and non-violent protest leader, once said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (Ali-Dinar 1963 p.1). Such an iconic and fearless leader recognized the unjust behavior within society as a result of racially motivated police brutality and societal discrimination. Though his efforts were not in vain, today’s media representation of law enforcement impacts the societal cultivation of police officers in a negative way. Media outlets, in the forms of television, radio, or social websites, create a cynical view of police officers, which influences societal beliefs and creates negative connotations.

The table in chapter 5 figure 5.1 on pages 115 and 116, gives a brief contrast of how cops are portrayed in the media as opposed to what they are in reality. For instance, tv shows, movies or any other source of entertainment, often portray cops as having an easygoing job, but in reality, police officers rarely have it that simple. The media fabricates the reality of time as well as effort of what it means to save lives and deter crime. Moreover, the table points out that when it comes to solving crimes on television, the time duration are between thirty minutes to an hour; actually, cases are not solved quickly. The time consumption usually takes days, weeks, months or even years to solve cases in which they eventually become cold cases.

In a world where we can upload anything to the internet as our “facts”. We have transformed the way News is told, it is no longer the fact-based information we were once accustomed to receiving. The News has now become what most would consider entertainment television, with the most captivating stories making the headlines with social media becoming one of the biggest outlets for News. Focusing on the most triggering events going on in the world, with an emphasis on those involving law enforcement. Questioning how Police Officers do their job and why are there so many Black individuals being arrested or shot by Police Officers. It draws to question, is the media’s portrayal of Officer-involved incidents igniting racial

All things considered, what the media covers and how much they chose to cover has significantly changed over the years, the most apparent in crime coverage. This consistent coverage of crime gives the audience an opportunity to interact with the media. They can feel a part of the intensity of an investigation, cheer on the enforcers, become immersed in their stereotypes. On the other hand, they can appreciate deviance for its resilience to overcome and resist