Media In American Culture Essay

Media is extremely important to American culture. It is truly a feat to go through a day and not be exposed to any of the four types of media. The four types of media are print, sound, visual, and new media which includes the internet and electronic media. We constantly look to media to inform us of what is happening in our everyday lives and to entertain us. Media, specifically television, provides escapism. Many individuals use television shows as a kind of immersive past time where they can escape from the realities of their everyday lives. It is important to understand that while we consume media we also consume the narratives and social constructs that the media promotes. Many people do not actually have personal experience with the criminal justice system and rely on news and television series, such as Law & Order: Criminal Intent (LOCI), to …show more content…
When we are exposed in the media to expert detectives who can solve every case, as Goren and Eames do, but our actual detectives and police officers have very low clearance rates it can erode the relationship between the public and the police force. The public begins to feel less confident in the police which may lead to the social construction of the faulty criminal justice frame. The faulty criminal justice frame is based on the idea that our criminal justice system is unable to proficiently solve crime and deliver justice. I believe we need more accurate portrayals of our criminal justice system in the media that showcase more realistic clearance rates, mentally ill people being victims instead of perpetrators, and less popularization of genius detectives as the norm. This may be less entertaining in some aspects, but it would be more accurate and could potentially help repair the public’s opinions of law