Week 2: Perceiving crime – Measuring and reporting on crime Flashcards
Crime news value: Threshold
Events have to meet a certain level of perceived importance or drama in order to be considered newsworthy. For example, a single rape might make it into the local newspaper, but a serial rapist might become a national story.
Crime news value: Predictability
If an event is rare, extraordinary or unexpected, it will be considered more newsworthy. Equally, if a story is predictable, it may also be deemed newsworthy as media organisations can plan their coverage in advance and deploy their resources accordingly.
Crime news value: Risk
Crime becomes newsworthy when it can be presented as serious, random and unpredictable enough so that we’re all at risk of becoming victims, and we all have something to fear.
Crime news value: Sex
One of the most salient news values especially in the tabloid press, but also in the broadsheets and other media. Sex and violence are interlinked themes that powerfully combine to illustrate the value of risk.
Crime news value: Celebrity
The obsession with celebrities is evident in the media and a story with a criminal element with a well-known name attached to it will more likely be deemed newsworthy.
Crime news value: Proximity
Proximity has both spatial and cultural dynamics. Spatial proximity refers to the geographical ‘nearness’ of an event, while cultural proximity refers to the ‘relevance’ of an event to an audience.
Crime news value: Violence or conflict
This is the news value that is arguably the most common to all media. Violence fulfils the media’s desire to present dramatic events is the most graphically possible way.
Crime news value: Visual spectacle or graphic imagery
Events, particularly CCTV or mobile phone footage are more newsworthy as they enable the media to provide a visual and dramatic impact for audiences.
Crime news value: Children
Any offence, particularly those that deviate from the moral consensus, are made newsworthy if children are involved. Since the 1990s, children who commit crime have also become newsworthy, especially when the act is of a violent or serious nature.
Crime news value: Simplification
Events that are easily understood and not too complicated, without the need for lots of background information and detail are often deemed newsworthy.
Crime news value: Individualism
This news value connects simplification and risk. The media engage in a process of personalisation in order to simplify stories and give them a ‘human interest’ appeal.
Are the following crimes * over represented crimes or * under represented crimes?
Celebrity crimes
Crimes involving children or young people
Crimes involving police
Violent crimes (committed by strangers)
Crimes that have been visually recorded (CCTV)
Sex crimes (committed by strangers)
Over represented crimes
Are the following crimes * over represented crimes or * under represented crimes?
Cyber crime Domestic violence Environmental crimes Crimes against undeserving victims (eg, drug dealers or the homeless) Crime not deemed 'street crime' White collar crimes
Under represented
What is White Collar crime?
Financially motivated, non violent, committed by individuals, governments and businesses.
Key concepts and issues associated with media representations of crime: Ideal victim
Ideal victims are those who share characteristics that generate maximum sympathy. The victim is afforded the public label of being a worthy victim.
Characteristics of an ideal victim include extremes of age (young child or elderly), ethnic or racial majority, presentable, articulate, photogenic or resisted the offender.
Key concepts and issues associated with media representations of crime: Signal crimes
Signal crimes generate strong collective emotions—particularly fear and outrage. These types of crimes tap into the more broadly held public concerns and tensions (e.g. sexual assault, immigration, drug use, religion).
Signal crimes result in extensive and continuing media interest in related issues and offences. This type of crime usually reconfigure social thinking and practices.
Key concepts and issues associated with media representations of crime: Moral panic
Moral panic occurs when a perceived threat to social order is identified or misidentified. Key elements to moral panic include the following:
Concern over certain kinds of people and behaviour.
Hostility towards group identified as responsible.
Consensus, substantial or widespread, that something ‘must be done’.
Disproportionate response concerning the actual level of threat.
Key concepts and issues associated with media representations of crime: Misguided response
Moral panics are driven by the media, exploited by moral entrepreneurs, particularly politicians and often culminate in disproportionate and reactionary policy making. This is particularly evident when informed by erroneous or misleading media representations.
Key concepts and issues associated with media representations of crime: ‘Soft’ judges
Sentencing magistrates are often referred to as ‘out of touch’ by the media, which leads to public demands for tougher penalties and mandatory sentencing.
However, it is important to note that members of public are more likely to agree with a sentence with more knowledge about the circumstances of the offence.
Statistical information is recorded at all stages of the criminal justice system. What are the these three C’s…?
Cops, courts and corrections
Official crime statistics are analysed and published by a range of government agencies, including:
Crime Statistics Agency Victoria
Australian Institute of Criminology
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) National Crime and Justice Statistical Centre
New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics (BOCSAR)
Western Australia Crime Research Centre
South Australia Office of Crime Statistics.
People measure crime in order to answer a variety of questions, including:
How good or bad are current levels of crime?
What are the risks?
Is crime getting better or worse?
Is the criminal justice system working effectively?
Are specific policies working?
Do we need to do more?
What areas need more attention?
Things to keep in mind when looking at crime statistics:
Take note of the rates of crime rather than absolute numbers of crime.
Examine the prevalence on how common an offence is to begin with. Remember that if an offense is not common, small variations can have a disproportionate impact.
Be wary of the time period of when the statistics were recorded. The longer the time period being examined will usually result in more accurate statistics.
Factors that influence crime statistics/ Changes to the criminal justice system:
Examples:
introduction of new laws
recording practices of the police—only certain offences will be recorded based on the thresholds of threat and evidence
policing strategies that involve blitzes (e.g. drink driving) or targeted offences (e.g. drug usage)
improvements in crime detection technology used by law enforcement agencies.
