`In the 21st century, we live in a media-saturated society and public knowledge of crime is largely derived from the media. This essay will look at the way that the media, in all its forms, influences and shapes public knowledge of crime. As most of our lives today are largely impacted by the media, what we know- or think we know- about crime is severely influenced by how the medias represents it.
Crime and deviance make up a large proportion of news coverage, for example, Richard Ericson et al’s (1991) study of Toronto found that “45-71% of quality press and radio news was about various forms of deviance” and Williams and Dickinson (1993) discovered that newspapers across Britain allocate up to “30% of their news space to crime” (Webb et …show more content…
Matching this is the internet- mutually because of the speed of its rise and its scale. The arrival of the internet has also led to the beginning of cyber-crime, which Thomas and Loader (2000) define as ‘computer-mediated activities that are either illegal or considered illicit by some, and that are conducted through global electronic networks.’ Other authors look at the rise of the internet and how it may result in an increase in criminality. For example, Wall (2001) argues that cyber-crime can be divided into four different categories; cyber-trespass, cyber-deception and theft, cyber-pornography and cyber violence. Cyber-crime is a very difficult type of crime to police as it is on an extremely large sale and the police have limited resources. Also because of the globalised nature of the internet, there is issues with jurisdiction as one thing that is considered a crime in one country, may not be a crime in …show more content…
Through history, many advancements in media and technology have been held responsible for moral decline and an increase in crime, for example in the 1920’s and 1930’s, cinema was held responsible for corrupting the youth, in the 1950’s, it was horror comics and more recently, games such as Grand Theft Auto have become increasingly more popular and have been critiqued for encouraging violence and criminality. Therefore, media might be a direct cause to crime and deviance, as it is argued that by providing role models that do not conform to societies moral standards, such as characters in games such as Grand Theft Auto, might lead to ‘copycat’ behaviour and imitation and by glamourizing offending, the media might in fact have criminogenic effects. On the other hand, many studies have been led about the possible negative effects of the media on their audiences, but most have concluded that exposure to violence in the media has at most a minor and limited negative effect on viewers. For example, Schramm et al (1961) conducted a study into the effects of TV viewing on children and concluded that “…for most children, under most
Crime and deviance make up a large proportion of news coverage, for example, Richard Ericson et al’s (1991) study of Toronto found that “45-71% of quality press and radio news was about various forms of deviance” and Williams and Dickinson (1993) discovered that newspapers across Britain allocate up to “30% of their news space to crime” (Webb et …show more content…
Matching this is the internet- mutually because of the speed of its rise and its scale. The arrival of the internet has also led to the beginning of cyber-crime, which Thomas and Loader (2000) define as ‘computer-mediated activities that are either illegal or considered illicit by some, and that are conducted through global electronic networks.’ Other authors look at the rise of the internet and how it may result in an increase in criminality. For example, Wall (2001) argues that cyber-crime can be divided into four different categories; cyber-trespass, cyber-deception and theft, cyber-pornography and cyber violence. Cyber-crime is a very difficult type of crime to police as it is on an extremely large sale and the police have limited resources. Also because of the globalised nature of the internet, there is issues with jurisdiction as one thing that is considered a crime in one country, may not be a crime in …show more content…
Through history, many advancements in media and technology have been held responsible for moral decline and an increase in crime, for example in the 1920’s and 1930’s, cinema was held responsible for corrupting the youth, in the 1950’s, it was horror comics and more recently, games such as Grand Theft Auto have become increasingly more popular and have been critiqued for encouraging violence and criminality. Therefore, media might be a direct cause to crime and deviance, as it is argued that by providing role models that do not conform to societies moral standards, such as characters in games such as Grand Theft Auto, might lead to ‘copycat’ behaviour and imitation and by glamourizing offending, the media might in fact have criminogenic effects. On the other hand, many studies have been led about the possible negative effects of the media on their audiences, but most have concluded that exposure to violence in the media has at most a minor and limited negative effect on viewers. For example, Schramm et al (1961) conducted a study into the effects of TV viewing on children and concluded that “…for most children, under most