Crime Nature

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This essay aims to explore the nature of crime in our society and the accuracy of the media portrayal. In this paper the author will discuss how the media portrays crime and criminality through media crime frames and selective reporting. The effect that this has on the public’s view of crime will also be explored.

Crime news can be reported and portrayed in many ways through the media such as newspaper, radio, news shows and even crime drama. These reports are not always accurate but they still remain the primary source of indirect information for most of the public. This can lead to widespread disillusion regarding the level or severity of crime occurring in our areas. “In Australia, studies have shown a substantial proportion of the population incorrectly believe crime rates are increasing when, in fact, they are stable or declining”(Davis & Dossetor, 2010). This belief stems from the over reporting and sensationalizing of violent and unusual crimes and the under reporting of other crimes such as white collar or petty theft. Media tend to over report violent crimes as the public is more likely to watch this and be entertained by this, this is called selective reporting and tends not to use statistics or crime reports but instead focuses on a particular type of crime.

To further explain the way media reports on crime this paragraph will discuss the newsworthiness of a story and how this is decided. The media rely on various criteria to determine the newsworthiness of a story, these include: Prominence, Timeliness, Impact, Proximity, Novelty, Conflict, Human Interest and Contemporaneousness(Griffith, 2014). Using these criteria can change how the public views crime by somewhat warping the truth and portraying events that are rare as everyday occurrences. The media will focus on the novelty or conflict heavy stories and over report these, creating the illusion that this is normal in our communities when in fact it is not. The media report on stories that have a stronger impact, or feature more prominent people or businesses. Dramatic or provocative language is often used by authors or reporters to create the most impact especially in stories being shown for their novelty status such as overly violent crimes. Crime news that doesn’t satisfy these criteria are very rarely shown or given any amount of coverage, therefore leaving the audience believing that violent, unusual crime happens every day and is on the rise, when in fact statistics would prove this is incorrect.

When the media are preparing to report on crime they use a process called framing, this allows information to be given and received quickly. When a story is framed, it presents the viewer with the problem, the cause, the solution and how they should feel about it. Different frames will enable viewers a different perspective on the story, it will them know how they should be feeling about the situation. One example of a media crime frame is the faulty criminal justice which says that people commit crime due to a fault with the system. Other crime frames include; Blocked opportunities, Social Breakdown, racist System and violent media. When a story is framed this way it is a powerful tool to convince the public they feel the same way, even if they may not. Media crime frames exaggerate the risk to the public and often can just enforce stereotypes about the type of crime being committed and by who(Potter, 2006).