Topic 1.4

 Topic 1.4 - The media and crime

Some people may have direct, personal experience of crime but most of our knowledge about crime comes indirectly from the media. There is a wide range of media including newspaper, novels, films. TV and radio as well as social media which all portray crime that is both fictional and real. 

Newspaper- Types;

 The 'popular' press which included the Daily Mail and the 'quality' press that included The Guardian.

 Daily papers and the Sunday papers like the Observer

Local and regional papers like the Evening Standard (London) and the Western Mail (Cardiff) as well as free newspapers like the Metro

All major newspapers now have online as well as the printed version. Sales of most newspapers have been falling over the years. 

In the press crime is big news. A study found that 1/8 of the news reports were about crime and that tabloids devoted more space to crime. The tabloids focus on sensational stories and treat them as a form of 'infotainment' - a cross between factual information and fictional entertainment.

News values - The kinds of crimes, criminals and victims that appear in newspaper reports are in many ways the opposite of those that appear in the official crime statistics. The criminologist Surette calls this 'the law of opposites.' Crimes are more likely to be deemed newsworthy if they fit key 'new values.'

Type of crime- Newspaper concentrate on serious violent crimes and sexual crimes, whereas the vast majority of crimes recorded in the official statistics are minor property crimes such as shoplifting. A study found that almost 2/3 of newspaper crime stories featured violence. Homicide is featured in around 1/3 of all crime reports. Homicides that are most likely to be reported are those with sex, financial gain, jealousy or revenge as a motive. Tabloid carry more stories involving violence and give them more prominence (importance)

Criminals and victims- In press reports both the offenders and victims typically older and of higher status than the people who turn up in the courts. Reports over-represent children , women, middle class, white and older people as victims. The point of agreement is only between news reports and the official statistics is that they both see the typical offenders as male. 

Ignoring the causes, the newspapers often focus on particular incidents rather than the overall cause of the crime. An example of this is when the reports of rape often focus on demonising the individual offender instead of the common issues of man power. Similarly, crimes involving rioting or terrorism are often reported without the explanation of the political background for the crimes.

Coverage of the police, The press reports tend to exaggerate the success of the police in solving crimes, whereas crimes often committed by the police officers that are often presented as te work of 'one bad apple' rather than something that is more common.

News values- The criteria that journalists and editors use to decide whether a story is newsworthy enough to make it into the paper or news bulletin. If the story can be told in terms of these values, it has a better chance of making the news. The news values include-

Immediacy- 'breaking news'

Dramatization- action and excitement

Personalisation- human interest stories about individuals

Higher status persons- and celebrities

Simplification- eliminating 'shades of grey' in the story

Novelty or unexpectedness- a new 'angle' or a 'shock' development

Risk- victim-centred stories about vulnerability and fear

Violence- especially involving visible and spectacular acts

Television- 

TV broadcasts both crime news and crime fiction.

Crime news- TV coverage is similar to the papers in terms of a strong focus on violent crime - especially in the local news bulletins. Similarly, TV news portrays both offenders and victims as older and more middle class. But, 'reality' TV shows are an exception, the concentrate more on stories involving young suspects.

 Crime fiction- Around a quarter of all TV output is devoted to crime dramas. The pattern here is similar to the coverage of crime in news broadcasts.

Violence, around 2/3 of US crime TV shows consists of murder, assault or armed robbery. The motive for murder is often highlighted as greed and calculation whereas in real life most homicides result from domestic conflicts or brawls between young me. Similarly, most sex crimes are in fact committed by people known to the victim, in TV fiction as well as TV news stories that are committed by psychopathic strangers.

Property crime- When it appears on TV it is portrayed as more serious than most offences really are, like them being tightly planned, high value thefts, often accompanied by violence.

Offenders and victims- Crime dramas generally portray offenders as higher status, white, middle aged males. The victims are similar but a higher proportion are females. In the last few years victims have become more central in both TV and film fiction and audiences are encouraged to identify with them.

The police- TV crime generally has a high clear up rate, compared with the official crime statistics - the police usually get who they want. But, there is a trend towards dramas where the police fail. The police are generally portrayed in a positive light, but there is an increasing tendency to portray brutal of corrupt officers.

Film- 

About a fifth of all cinema films are crime movies and up to half of them have significant crime content. The pattern of representations in fictional crime is similar to that on TV.

Representation of violence, it has become more explicit and extreme over time. Property crime is under-represented compared with the official statistics. After the trial of the two boys accused of murdering two year old Jamie Bulger in 1993. It was suggested that one of the defendants might have been influenced in their actions by viewing the 'video nasty', child plays 3. However, the police who investigated the case found no evidence that this had occurred.

Electronic gaming-

Many of the electronic games involve crime. In the games that include shooting like Grand Theft Auto and Manhunt, the players engage in simulated violence and homicide. In view of the popularity of such games, there has been concern that some people may be becoming 'addicted' to gaming. An example of this is in 2018 the World Health Organisation classified 'gaming disorder' as a medical condition involving loss of control over gaming so that it takes priority over a gamers daily activities and significantly affects their personal, family, social, educational or occupational functioning. A fear of gaming is that heavy users of violent games may become desensitised to violence and regard it as normal, or even perform 'copycat' crimes themselves. But, despite may studies of the possible effects of exposure to media violence , including in electronic games there is little evidence of harmful effects. Concerns about video gaming among children in particular may have more to do with society's desire to regard childhood as a time of innocence than with any real effects faming actually has. It may even be that such games allow players to release aggressive feelings in a harmless way - a process called catharsis by some psychologists.

Social media: blogs and social networking-

There are also links between crime and social media. Social media can be used as a means of committing hate crimes such as harassment and racist or homophobic abuse. Social media can be used as a means of committing hate crimes such as harassment and racist or homophobic abuse. There is also cases of gang assaults being staged, recorded and posted online and then sometimes packages as underground fight videos. 'Drill rap' videos have also been posted online to provoke conflict with other gangs.

Preventing crime, Social media can also be used to prevent or report crime. An example of this is the police forcers now having Facebook and twitter accounts that they use to appeal for information or witnesses and to alert people to the risks of becoming a victim. The National Crime Agency posts accounts of its work on various social media, including clips of arrests of people involved in serious and organised crime. Police may also search suspects phones for incriminating evidence in text messages and selfies.

Members of the public can also use social media to raise public awareness by warning others of crimes or risks of becoming victims. Apps like Witness Evident exist to enable the public to report crime to the police, send photo, video and audio evidence and make statements. Other apps exist to report specific kinds of crime like hate crime.

Music-

Crime has been a popular subject for musicians for may years. Vengeful lovers, gangsters, drug dealers, bank robbers, prisoners and many more criminal types have featured in song lyrics. Some type of music may contribute to crime. An example of this is drill rap videos featuring threatening lyrics and had been posted on YouTube. They are often aimed one street gang by another, these music videos have been blamed for inter-gang assaults and murders. In 2018 a court  order banned members of the drill group 1011 from mentioning injury or death in their music and required them to notify police when releasing a new video.

Crime as fashion, Music and the music videos may also turn crime into a commodity and fashion statement. An example of this is gangster rap and hip hop combine images of street hustler criminality with images of luxury goods and designer chic. Advertising uses hip hop music videos to sell products to young people, packaging and marketing crime as edgy, glamorous and cool


 


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