C&D MEDIA Flashcards
(25 cards)
Media representations before;
Schlesinger and Turner; 1960s reports focused on murders and petty crime but shifted focus in 90s.
Crime rate rose so news had to be special to attract attention.
Social construction of the news
Young and Cohen; news is manufactured not discovered.
Examples of news values;
Immediacy,
dramatic,
high status
violence
novelty
3 Features of a moral panic
- media identifies a group as folk devils
- the group has negative stereotypes
- moral entrepreneurs condem the group
Impacts on a Moral Panic
Crackdown on the group by police.
Self fulfilling prophecy and deviancy amplification spiral as more pressure is applied.
Example of a Moral Panic
Cohen - Mods and Rockers
Steps of Mods and Rockers
- Exaggeration and distortion - dramatic headlights “Day of Terror”
- Prediction - assumption more would occur.
- Symbolisation - generalise and connecting to other groups
Whey does Cohen believe moral panics occur?
During periods of social change reflecting the anxieties many people feel when accepted values are undermined - Boundary Crisis.
Functionalist perspective of Moral Panic
Moral panics are a response to a sense of Anomie or normlessness. Sense of threat creates social consciousness.
Neo-marxist perspective of Moral Panic
Located in the context of capitalism. Eg; Hall Black Mugging
AO3 of Moral panics
- LR argue the fear of crime is rational and not panicky
Dutton and Duffy
- 46% of media reports were about violent or sexual crimes but they make up only 3% of all crimes. Overepestented.
- Media exaggerates police success
- Media overplays extraordinary crimes; Felson “Dramatic Fallacy”
Gerbner
People who watched over four hours of TV a day had a higher fear of crime
Greer and Reiner
“Media effects” ignores the meanings viewers give to media violence.
Ways media can cause crime
- Imitation
- Arousal
- Desensitisation
- Glamourising offending
Schramm
for some children some tv is harmful, for others it may be beneficial
How does Mass media cause Rel Dep
Mass media increased the sense of rel dep as we are constantly presented with material goods as the norm.
Merton; the pressure to conform can cause deviation.
Hayward and Young
Rather than promoting crime through rel dep they turn crime into a commodity that people desire.
Cultural criminology
crime is a commodity encouaged to consume
Commodification of crime
LM; consumption, excitement and immediacy therefore crime and its thrills have become more commodified.
Fenwick and Heywood
crime is packaged and marketed to young people as romantic, exciting, cool and fashionable cultural symbol
eg: heroin chic
Mandel
Over 40 years 10 billion crime thrillers were sold worldwide.
Surette
medias fictional representation of crime follows a “Law of opposites” to OCS.
Eg; Police usually “get their man”
Thomas
Cyber crime is computer activités that are illegal or devient in global networks
