...MEDIA AND CRIME Introduction -With the growing urbanization (παγκοσμιοποίηση) it is necessary to rely on media to find out what has been happening in the world. As in the majority few people are vi ctims of serious crime, images of offending are formed in the majority of the people from the mass media! (MME) : newspapers, books, magazines, TV, radio, etc… Does Media have Legal Constraints? (Περιορισμοί)? Τhere is a difference between: • Broadcasting (μετάδωση): Section 6 of Broadcasting Acts requires impartiality (αντικειμενικότητα) in the reporting of news and political matters • But in the Press (εφημερίδα) there is no such a legal obligation! Written media can published more/less what it wants subject to the Law of Libel (δυσφήμιση) and some specific prohibitions. (example: Official Secret Act which prohibits press from publishing sensitive informations. Sources of the media’s information on crime • Police (The police still provide the bulk of the material in crime reporters. Because of their big influence manipulation (χειρισμός) of the media has now become a big part in policing!) • Home Office (Press Office) • The Legal Profession • The Prison Officer’s Association • Academics Selection of Crime News The journalist and editor play the central role as to how a story is formulated and presented in a newspaper! They select their stories in a subjective basis in accordance with the newspaper agenda! In his book “Law and Order News” Steve Ghibnall listed...
Words: 1725 - Pages: 7
...through the portrayal of folk devils which creates moral panic. The concept of folk devils and moral panic was explored by Stanley Cohen (1973) in his case study of mods and rockers of the 1960’s. The Mods and Rockers were two opposing British youth gangs that engaged in fighting and vandalism at seaside towns in the 1960’s.Cohen’s research focused on how this the media’s portrayal of events provoked a mood of public fear and outrage throughout society, labelling the two groups as folk devils. Folk devils have been depicted as mindless, evil and deviant beings with their behaviour completely different to that of normal people. These deviants have been blamed for all the wrongs in society and have been punished brutally. This characterisation has been central to Cohen’s theory with the role of the media inciting moral panics with the dramatization and construction of Folk devils. (Kelly and Toynbee, 2009, p370) Stanley Cohen, Suggests the UK media’s representation of the antisocial behaviour of the British youths played a major role in fostering irrational fears in the population thus creating a moral manic; the fear that it created was totally exaggerated to the behaviour exhibited. Moral panic is a reaction to a perceived threat or challenge presented by either a group or an individual which may be seen as a challenge to current social norms. ( ‘The making of order and disorder’ 2009, CD 3). The...
Words: 1594 - Pages: 7
...Running head: Crime Theories Crime Theories Clifton C. Staples CJ Philosophy Policy Do crime myths impact criminal justice policies? The manner in which criminal justice policies are created, solidified and employed are questionable at times dependent upon where the nucleus or core originated. Public scrutiny, media coverage, blogs, Internet sites are just a few examples of arenas where crime myths are created and perpetrated. These volcanic eruptions in mainstream society, stir the pot, drive public perception and create non-factual based chaos and mayhem, forcing heads of state and politicians into full effect to create safety measure to mitigate such instances from occurring again. These policies at times can take on a life of it’s own and cause more harm then good in certain situations. “The news media are not mirrors, simply reflecting events in society. Rather, media content is shaped by economic and marketing considerations that frequently override traditional journalistic criteria for newsworthiness” (Beale, 2006, p. 397). Immigration laws, sexual assaults, drug use, gang violence, gun control are just a few of the many examples of media led myths that lives and breathes in the circulating media sources, which “through agenda setting and priming, the news media's relentless emphasis increases public concern about crime and makes it a more important criteria in assessing political leaders” (Beale, 2006, p. 398). During the recent 2014 election cycle...
Words: 504 - Pages: 3
...Media Influence on Criminal Justice The Media’s Impact on Criminal Justice. Juvenile Justice System David Scholtes I believe that the media has a profound impact on criminal justice. Firstly in the way that it reports the crime. I believe the media is shaped by economic considerations. Whatever will help them sell more papers, get more sponsors or get better ratings is what they report, it seems that is their criteria of what is newsworthy. They tend to over dramatize crimes at times. I believe trying to give the viewer or reader the fear factor with crime scene photos and videos of pools blood, bodies still on the scene with white sheets covering them. It’s human nature to stop and look at an accident with ambulances present. The media attempts to interview victims, witnesses and family members of victims immediately after the crime. I think this type of reporting can effect a criminal investigation. Also they give out facts of the case that the police try to prevent the public from knowing so that it may not tip off a criminal of impending arrest. When there is an arrest made they like to film the arrestee in handcuffs being put into a car or being lead into the station “the perp walk.” Sometimes when the public views these situations it may be difficult to have a non-biased jury. The power of the media and their coverage can influence the operations of the criminal justice system and even the outcome...
Words: 320 - Pages: 2
...Sociology 12 Primal Fear Part A: 1. The media has a very strong role in the general public's perspective of crime. The way media portrays crime and the person being accused of the crime has a very strong influence on how the general public sees the accused and the crime committed. This is very evident in the movie Primal Fear when the lawyer, Marty says "you know what they're calling him already? The Butcher Boy of St. Nicks." The source of this name has no information on the case or whether he is guilty or innocent, but by giving him that name it gives people the idea that he's guilty. 2. The mental state of someone should be a reason to alter or negate the consequences of their crime. Many mental illness prohibit a person from being able to know right from wrong. We can't punish people who aren't to blame for their crimes, we need to be getting these people the help they need instead of putting them in jail. However there will always be flaws in the system and people such as Aaron will get away with crimes they knew were wrong. 3. Aaron Stampler could be best represented by the social control/social bonding theory. He has very little ties to society because of the passing of his mother at a young age and growing up with an abusive father. After he was able to escape from his family he found the Archbishop, only to be sexually abused by him. He has no positive relationships with anyone is society, this makes him more likely to commit crimes. 4. Organized crime is a business operation...
Words: 808 - Pages: 4
...how dangerous the collaboration of the media and the government truly is. In order to put forth my opinion I’ll write in a cynical tone to portray that the motives of particular people are bad, I’ll use factual (gun crimes in the US) and fictional (‘Wag the Dog’ and ‘Leaky Boat’) evidence and I’ll use proper terminology to add sophistication and credit to my piece. In this piece, I draw on examples from ‘Wag the Dog’ (1997 film directed by Barry Levinson), ‘Leaky Boat’ (2011 ABC documentary) and gun crimes in the US in order to illustrate the idea that people are easily influenced by external sources, especially when they have authority. ESSAY: Stephan Lewandowsky’s study shows that “weighing the plausibility of a message is cognitively more difficult than simply accepting that the message is true – it requires additional motivational and cognitive resources.” This shows why peoples realities are heavily influenced by others, this is due to the difficulty of weighing the plausibility and the foundation of the reported truth or version of reality. People’s reality can be influenced by the media, government, values, beliefs and perceptions. This is apparent in ‘Wag the Dog’ (1997 film directed by Barry Levinson), ‘Leaky Boat’ (2011 ABC documentary) and gun crimes in the United...
Words: 1263 - Pages: 6
...There are several factors that can influence justice in America. I find that you can read and work up information all day on justice in America as far back as history goes. The constitution of the United States Supreme Court helps set careers and regulations of factors that do influence America. Some of them can vary in topics from your race, crime, prisons, policing, and courts. Organized crime may be defined as systematically unlawful activity for profit on city guide interstate and even international scale. Crime organized keeps their illegal operations percent and members confer by word of mouth. Gangs sometimes become sufficiently symptomatic to the call organized. The act of engaging in criminal activity as a structural group in referred in the United States as racketeering. The criminal organization depends on the part of support from the society in which it extends. It is frequently expedient for it to compromise some of society’s upright memories, especially people in the judiciary, police forces, legislature, and cultivation of mutually dependent relationships with legitimate business. The five factors that influence a justice decision are Constitution, Precedent, Judicial Philosophy, Intent, and Public Opinion. According to an article I read in a book from David O. Carpenter the Constitution states, “We, the people of the United States in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote...
Words: 2156 - Pages: 9
...Assess the view that the media as a cause of crime. (21) There is concern that the media have a negative effect on attitudes, values and behaviour - especially of those susceptible to influence, such as the young, the lower class and the educated. Recently rap lyrics and computer games such as Grand Theft Auto have been criticised for encouraging violence whereas before horror comics and films were held responsible for criminality. According to social learning theory, the media provides deviant role models - resulting in ‘copycat’ behaviour. Ericson et al found that 45-71% of quality press and radio news was about various forms of deviance, whilst Williams and Dickinson found British newspapers devoted 30% of their news space to crime. As crime makes up such a large proportion of the news, it is easy for individuals to imitate the crime or behaviour. Though horror and crime films have age restrictions, the internet makes such films easily accessible to anyone and therefore those at an impressionable age (usually adolescents), are exposed to the violence portrayed in which they then imitate. Sue Palmer argues childhood is becoming toxic and children are committing more ‘adult’ crimes from their exposure to violence on the internet and through films. The murder of Jamie Bulger committed by John Venables and Robert Thompson, has been linked to the boys re-enacting scenes from the film ‘Child’s Play 3’. Similarly, the perpetrators of the Columbine massacre in April 1999 allegedly...
Words: 945 - Pages: 4
...Fear of Crime: Development, Progress, and Efforts to Erase the Negative Effects it Leaves Behind Abstract This study diagnoses the different aspects that cause fear of crime to grow or progress in society. Things that have stronger influences on the mind are considered on higher scales than others. This report has many different points; it will be focused most on: demography and how it is used to show characteristics of your 'common victim', the media's ramification’s on crime, what effects the mind has on crime, and crime within schools. It will also mention different theories and how they affect the thoughts that people have on the amount of crime around them. Crime is a topic in today's society that cast immense fear into the mind and thoughts of many people, putting hindrance on what many people do in their lives. It is depicted in abundance on television, radio, books, and other entertainment sources of today's day and age, therefore causing more people to focus in on crime. Due to the added attention on the topic, fear of crime, the physical, social, economic, and emotional vulnerability as a result of the stress from crime, is more common than it used to be. Fake court cases and exaggerated crimes are all over reality television, in turn, taking minuscule fears and making them extraordinary with every hour they sit observing them in front of their television a daily basis, one show after another. Mind over matter is a theory that is mentioned when discussing...
Words: 1112 - Pages: 5
...police in combating crime”. Discuss. The relationship between the police and the mass media have long been the subject of intense debate. The mass media and the police have different roles in the public eye causing the media to be of concern to the police. Historically and in the contemporary era the police have had to meet high expectations of being the public’s crime-fighter. It is the police’s role to prevent crime, maintain order and protect the public (Carrabine, 2009) whilst, the media fulfil a role that is supposed to challenge the state institutions on behalf of the public. Media handling in serious crime investigations is a complex issue. On the one hand, they provide the public with access to information and help generate important information for an enquiry. For example, since its first broadcast in 1984, Crimewatch UK has sought help and information from the public in order to solve crime (Carter and Branston et al., 2002). On the other hand, the media can mislead the public and interfere with the investigative legal processes. As a whole the media plays a critical role in shaping the public’s views by exposing corruption and the activities of the powerful and of agencies of control such as the police (Croall, 2005). More to the point the media are there to maximise audience revenue to get money and to entertain via means of print, audio, visual and social media. Whereas, the police are the primary protection for the public for fears of crime and disorder. These...
Words: 2478 - Pages: 10
...Ethical Dilemma Paper Trayvon Martin Case Sonji Toussaint-Watson CJA/324 June 24, 2013 Angela Sonsalla Ethical Dilemma-Trayvon Martin The current story in the news that I have chosen to write about is the Trayvon Martin murder. I asked myself now what role did society play in this case? Society has labeled young black men who dress a certain way that is a fashion first and foremost for many of the youths today as being a criminal, or they look suspicious because of the clothing that they wear. Benz (2012) website, the journalist has not done a good job covering this heated, sensitive set of events. We have rushed to paint the story as too simply explained by racism, we have rushed to judgment on whether an arrest should be made, we have given enormous time to the loudest voices and spent precious little time digging for new perspectives or analyzing the laws and community standards in question. Besides editing the 911 tapes, we have been shown year old photographs, the photo of Trayvon Martin smiling; the very young teenager in the Hollister T-shirt is four years old. Trayvon did not look like the same child on the picture within the months before he was murdered. The photo of Geroge Zimmerman, the one of him in an orange jump suit is a mug shot that was taken 7 years ago based on an arrest that was later dropped. What subliminal messages are sent by showing a smiling 15 year old boy who was killed by a menacing man who was once in jail? Is this a truthful representation...
Words: 1270 - Pages: 6
...Crime is extremely prevalent and occurs often. Most people want to avoid talking about crime, out of fear. Whenever an act of violence happens, most people turn to the news to provide them with information regarding the incident. The information gets twisted, and a whole group of people get shamed for something out of their control. The negative ideas about mental health that come from the public are heavily influenced by the media’s negative portrayals when crime is committed by those with mental illnesses. When one “crazy” person does something wrong, every single person with OCD, for example, is also viewed as deranged and unpredictable. Although mental illnesses may ignite something in the brain to act, mental health can not fairly be the...
Words: 1527 - Pages: 7
...The Media’s Impact on Criminal Justice. Juvenile Justice System David Scholtes I believe that the media has a profound impact on criminal justice. Firstly in the way that it reports the crime. I believe the media is shaped by economic considerations. Whatever will help them sell more papers, get more sponsors or get better ratings is what they report, it seems that is their criteria of what is newsworthy. They tend to over dramatize crimes at times. I believe trying to give the viewer or reader the fear factor with crime scene photos and videos of pools blood, bodies still on the scene with white sheets covering them. It’s human nature to stop and look at an accident with ambulances present. The media attempts to interview victims, witnesses and family members of victims immediately after the crime. I think this type of reporting can effect a criminal investigation. Also they give out facts of the case that the police try to prevent the public from knowing so that it may not tip off a criminal of impending arrest. When there is an arrest made they like to film the arrestee in handcuffs being put into a car or being lead into the station “the perp walk.” Sometimes when the public views these situations it may be difficult to have a non-biased jury. The power of the media and their coverage can influence the operations of the criminal justice system and even the outcome of individual cases. The...
Words: 738 - Pages: 3
...Female victims who fit these physical and demographic variables receive disproportionately more coverage because they are a group within society that are rarely targeted – in comparison to other social groups – in other types of murder cases (Gekoski et al., 2012; Haggerty, 2009). Additionally, Gekoski et al. (2012) argues that individuals unconsciously tended to rate the photo of an attractive female victim as of higher importance or worthiness than one of an unattractive female. Picturesque victims further accentuate the story of an unjust crime, which in turn increases the probability of newspapers putting the story on the front cover to not only raise viewership but profitability too. Likewise, children in all other forms of murder are infrequent victims and automatically earn victim legitimacy – meaning violence against them is not questioned or refuted – which jointly cause a spike in news coverage when they are victims of serial killing (Gekoski et al., 2012). Peelo et al. (2004) highlights that of all the serial killing cases broadcasted within the media, children ten and under represented 65% to 70% of the victim population. Reasoning behind this over-representation...
Words: 1060 - Pages: 5
...Chapter 1 – Media’s Perception of Terrorism and Influence over the Audience By principle, the media should be impartial, unbiased and independent while illustrating their duties. The main aim and task of the media is to give accurate information to the public which should be based on the truth. During times of war the western media has become a place where the opinion of the audience at home is of vital importance to the success and failure of the war being fought against terrorism. In today’s time, the media is the main means of expression through which people receive information on terrorism or any other conflict, which then enlighten us about the unfolding events. Since the western media undisputedly is the most powerful, it has the means to present government actions in a supportive way, expose atrocities on either side and raise issues to the public which assist their governmental agenda. Here the question that comes to mind is whether the western media portrays terrorism, Muslims and Arabs in an accurate aspect. The western media uses certain techniques to depict terrorists in their own view which have had disastrous effects on Arabs as well as Americans all over the world. It is very unfortunate that despite all the recent terrorist attacks, weather they were significant or minor, the media still has not come up with a definitive definition of “terrorism” and “who is a terrorist”. The main issue with western media reporting on terrorism is their flaw of having discrepancies...
Words: 2642 - Pages: 11
