Review
arxchie
lecture10withnotesPT11.pptSocial Science and the American Crime Problem
Crime and the Media
Love/Hate Relationship with Crime
- We loath crime and want it stopped on the streets
- We are fascinated by crime & consume mass quantities of it in the media
Most frequent news stories
Fictional & non-fictional TV shows
Most popular stories, novels, movies
News Media’s Role
- News media serves as our main source of information on crime & justice
- Steadily blurring the lines between non-fiction & fiction
- Complex role of the media
Plays a role in what we see
Plays a role in public opinion
Plays a role in political ideology
Plays a role on criminal justice case outcomes
Plays a role in criminal justice policies and practices
History of Crime & the News Media
- Crime stories date back to first printing press of 1600s
- Colonial America’s fixation on crime
Ben Franklin often wrote crime articles
- Early 1800s saw birth of daily newspapers
Soon followed by crime/justice weeklies
- Early 1900s saw birth of crime reporters
Sensationalism of individual cases became the norm
Editors seek to capture readers’ attention not societal conditions
Reporters fostered relationships with police and prosecutors
- Proliferation of print coverage in the late 20th century
By mid-1990s, ¼ of all newspaper stories focus on justice related topics
Don’t forget weekly news magazines (Time, Newsweek, US News)
Leisure magazines (Maxim, Cosmo) get into the act
Radio Days
- Radio’s boom years of the 1920s
Allowed for live, on-the-scene reporting
Papers’ breath of reporting was replaced by radio’s depth of reporting
Crime dramas were also a staple of programming
The average American consumed a heavy dose of crime material each day over the airways
Television’s Influence
- Opened the door for graphic depictions in fiction & non-fiction form
- Editors could show the perpetrator, victim & cop in one visual clip
- Proliferation of TV news crime coverage
10% of all national TV news stories & 20% of all local TV news stories are on crime in the late 1990s
Spread of courtroom or law enforcement reality shows (Judge Judy, Cops)
Proliferation of Crime in the News
- While violent crime decreased in late 1990s, newspaper coverage of crime rose 400%
- Network news coverage of murder increased 336% from 1990 to 1995
- We now live in a “if it bleeds, it leads” news world
- Increased coverage is not warranted
- 24 hour news cycle and blog effects
Nature of News Coverage
- Coverage focuses on:
Rare types of offenses (rape, murder, robbery)
Rare types of offending (predatory or hyper-violent)
- A biased view of the problem
Brutal or sexy details
Runaway bride
Stranger crimes
Serial murder
Dangerous classes as offenders
Depicts the African Americans accused in worst way (Newsweek & OJ’s face)
Nature of News Coverage (cont.)
- Look for the “innocent & pure” victims
Affluent or young white females
- Frame crime using an episodic rather than using a thematic lens
Columbine kids, not home life or bullying
- Rare thematic focus emphasizes failed CJ system
Columbine kids got over on PO & judge
Source of Media’s Fascination
- 1) Fits into news media
Out of the ordinary
Good & evil quality
Drama component
- 2) Feeds organizational needs
Crime sells & boosts ratings
Quick & easy to put together
- 3) Stable relationships
Reliable & authoritative sources
Can foster relationships
Produces an insider-shaped perspective of the situation
Media’s Impact
- Unclear if the media sets the agenda or react to it
- Press doesn’t tell us what to think but it does tell us what to think about
Child victims, illegal immigration
- Cultivates concern, ideology & political activism
Makes an issue of something
Politicians look to the news for the pulse of the people
Reports the agenda of politicians
Ripple effect across markets
- The weak & undecided get shaped, while the strong & dogmatic get reinforced
CNN vs. Fox News
- Impacts criminal justice policy and practice
Jessica’s law
Border patrol
