The influence of the media on crime, criminals and the criminal justice system on the public is a great power on the part of the media. The media not only influences the public’s attitude toward crime, but has the ability to decide what crimes are worthy of being reported in the first place, often choosing stories that will have a greater effect on and response from the public. People may allow themselves to be told how to feel and how to act when they are presented with a crime or criminal, and in this situation they are vulnerable to the manipulation of the media, however each individuals interpretation can vary due to social division such as ethnicity, gender, age and socio economic status.
One significant reason why the representation …show more content…
Crimes that are characterized simply as violations of the law decreases the worth to the media, however if a crime is defined as one that includes a greater range of social behaviour that is perceived as straying from acceptable social norms, the worth will be greatly increased. No matter what the nature or content of a crime story, the reporting of the crime by the media is always selective, this selection being based on which events or people are deemed to be the most worthy (Greer, 2007). Factors that influence the media’s decision to report certain crime stories are discussed by Chibnall (1977). These factors consist of immediacy, dramatization, personalisation, simplification, titillation, conventionalism, structured access and novelty. Immediacy refers to the notion that events that have occurred recently are generally more interesting and therefore newsworthy, dramatization is the idea that the more dramatic or unusual a crime is, the more easily it will appeal to the public, and personalisation works on the concept that people will be more interested in new that relates to them on a personal level, or that involves people that they are familiar with, such as celebrities as opposed to people or events they have not heard or. Simplification is merely the belief that to be appealing, a story must cater to a large audience with a range of intellectual interests, and therefore the story must be …show more content…
It can be argued that this selective attention is more of an agenda by the media that aims to bring crime to the forefront of the public’s attention, and can sometimes cause a moral panic. The majority of studies on the extent of the media’s ability to influence the public’s perception about crime focus on how the portrayal of crime in television, movies, video games and on the internet has been shown to result in an escalation of public fear of crime and criminality (Drug and Crime Prevention Committee, 2001). The influence of the media can be characterised by three models of influence. The first is the effects model, and depicts the media as a direct and purposeful influence on the views of the public and their attitudes to crime, with characteristics such as age, education and gender relating to an individual’s perception of crime. This model however, is flawed in that is assumes that media messages are accepted without question. Next is the functionalist model, which focuses on the understanding that the public makes the media, more specifically the people who cooperate with and receive rewards from their involvement, and is appealing due to the explanation that it is the audience who manipulates the media, as opposed to the other way around. The final model is the institutional model, and is backed by most
One significant reason why the representation …show more content…
Crimes that are characterized simply as violations of the law decreases the worth to the media, however if a crime is defined as one that includes a greater range of social behaviour that is perceived as straying from acceptable social norms, the worth will be greatly increased. No matter what the nature or content of a crime story, the reporting of the crime by the media is always selective, this selection being based on which events or people are deemed to be the most worthy (Greer, 2007). Factors that influence the media’s decision to report certain crime stories are discussed by Chibnall (1977). These factors consist of immediacy, dramatization, personalisation, simplification, titillation, conventionalism, structured access and novelty. Immediacy refers to the notion that events that have occurred recently are generally more interesting and therefore newsworthy, dramatization is the idea that the more dramatic or unusual a crime is, the more easily it will appeal to the public, and personalisation works on the concept that people will be more interested in new that relates to them on a personal level, or that involves people that they are familiar with, such as celebrities as opposed to people or events they have not heard or. Simplification is merely the belief that to be appealing, a story must cater to a large audience with a range of intellectual interests, and therefore the story must be …show more content…
It can be argued that this selective attention is more of an agenda by the media that aims to bring crime to the forefront of the public’s attention, and can sometimes cause a moral panic. The majority of studies on the extent of the media’s ability to influence the public’s perception about crime focus on how the portrayal of crime in television, movies, video games and on the internet has been shown to result in an escalation of public fear of crime and criminality (Drug and Crime Prevention Committee, 2001). The influence of the media can be characterised by three models of influence. The first is the effects model, and depicts the media as a direct and purposeful influence on the views of the public and their attitudes to crime, with characteristics such as age, education and gender relating to an individual’s perception of crime. This model however, is flawed in that is assumes that media messages are accepted without question. Next is the functionalist model, which focuses on the understanding that the public makes the media, more specifically the people who cooperate with and receive rewards from their involvement, and is appealing due to the explanation that it is the audience who manipulates the media, as opposed to the other way around. The final model is the institutional model, and is backed by most