Crime and the media Flashcards
Crime in the news
media are guilty of distorting true crime rate in their representation of crime
> studies show that British newspapers devote up to 30% of their space to crime.
> broadsheet newspapers devote 5.1% whereas tabloid newspapers devote 30.4% to crime.
Pluralist Theory
“plural” - more than one
> says it is important to represent ideas, views and values of different social groups, so that people recognise that diversity exists and they have ability to decide what to think - allows people to have a say in how society is run.
> pluralists claim “content of the media reflects and mirrors what the public demand” - media puts out what the audience is gripped by - what interests them.
audiences demand in the following way:
> Novelty, the unusual, surprise
> Violence, especially involving stranger-attacks
> drama, excitement, an offender on the loose
> a focus on “innocent”. and vulnerable groups, such as children and elderly.
EXAMPLE - Yo Yeates murdered in December 2020, suspect was Christopher Jeffries, news used terms like “lewd, creepy and weird” to describe him despite being the killer.
EVAL - Ben Bagdikian - decline in media pluralism over time
Marxism, Crime and the media
Marx said “the ruling ideas are the ideas of the ruling class”
> media typically owed and controlled by powerful people.
> powerful people are “primary definers” of the news - new represents their interests - people who lack power only consume news.
> crime is a threat to capitalism - criminals are willing to break the law to oppress the powerful
> representation of crime through the media provides protection for capitalism interests, by presenting criminals as young, poor and working class.
> white-collar crime goes unnoticed - media acts as a “new opium of the people”
What impact does crime in the media have on real crime rates
“hypodermic syringe model”
“the hypodermic syringe model of media effects” claims crime in the media causes an “increase in peoples fear of crime”.
> crime rates fallen over last 10 years - media focuses on reporting crime that grabs attention e.g. knife crime creating impression that crime is increasing, which is not true.
EVAL - “the hypodermic model” is rather patronising to audiences in assuming they cannot realise what is factual and not factual.
Baudrillard (2011)
we live in a “media saturated society”
> one effect that media causes is that it can distort the truth about real crime rates.
> false representations of crime create a “hyper-reality” - that is, in distorting the truth, the public can develop irrational fear of crime that can have worrying consequences to people.
> media focuses on violent crime and eye-grabbing crime.
EXAMPLE - ‘line of duty’ series 2021 - fans ask “you wonder whos got time to sit there and come up with these thing” - shows term “hyper-reality” as some fans fail to separate fact from fiction.
EVAL - are people really injected with crime-related content - media simply reports crime as it grips audience - they do not take the information in like Baudrillard says.
Jock Young - relative deprivation
Can media fuel crime
media can lead to real increase in crime.
> by exposing people to luxurious lifestyles - “relative deprivation” can increase, especially among poorer people - this increase temptation to commit crime.
> Young uses term “bulimic society” - seeing the lifestyle rich live, yet not being able to ‘consume’ for themselves, the poor are ‘starving’ - this increases money-driven crimes.
EVAL - over generalises and has little evidence to support his theory - no evidence to show that media encourages financially motivated crimes.
EVAL - almost everybody experiences ‘relative deprivation’ - it isnt clear why crime is something people turn to.
‘happy slapping’
some crimes can be “staged for the cameras”
> in 2005, young people filming each other slapping each other on the face, known as ‘happy slapping’.
> the entertainment from ‘happy slapping’ circulated via school media and became viral.
> this led to some trying to ‘push boundaries’ and achieve maximum “social status” leading to loss of life.
> in March 2008 a teenage female filmed the brutal beating of a man and received 2 years of custodial sentence.
Fenwick and Hayward (2000)
through media, crime is “packaged and marketed” to younger people especially as something cool.
- ‘gangster’ rap and hip-hop combine images of criminality with consumerist success.
- leading hip-hop artists parade designer clothes and link them to criminal lifestyles that allow them to achieve such clothing.
Rising ‘hate crime’
media reports encourage people to take law into their own hands - thus increasing crime rates.
> Anti-Islam demonstrations in Germany in Jan 2015 were a direct result of negative media reporting of Islam and association with extremism.
> hate crime towards Muslims are fuelled by media anger and resentment.
Initiative aggression - Bandura
Bandura + colleagues conducted laboratory experiment seeking to discover effects on children of viewing violence on media.
> children were shown a film of an adult behaving aggressive towards a bobo doll - one group of children had a adult come into the room and criticise the adult in the film for his behaviour.
> another group of children had a adult come in the room and praise the adult in the film for behaviour.
> the third group nobody entered the room to pass a comment
this investigation showed the group of children that had an adult come in to criticise the behaviour in the film were the least aggressive.
EXAMPLE - man goes on ‘GTA’
