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What is the media influence on the public perceptions of crime
Crime distortion by the media
What is the media influence on the public perceptions of crime
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Introduction
The media’s job is to entertain, inform, and educate society on what is going on around the world. The media entertains society by reporting stories that amuse people. The educational function of the media is about allowing society to know their legal rights. The informational aspect of the media does not need to be explained; it is self-explanatory. Within the last three decades, the media’s role has changed dramatically. The media went from using telegraphs, post offices, newspapers, magazines, radio, and television to using cell phones and tablets. In the modern era, which is also sometimes referred to as the information age, global networking and global communication have shaped modern societies. The majority of Americans need information all the time for socializing and making decision. Americans never seem to think that the information given to them could be wrong. In Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death” (English Standard version).
Why can the media report stories in the fashion that they do and how does it interact with citizen rights?
The media covers all stories good, bad, or indifferent. Mass media earned a bad reputation for giving out confidential information, or too much information when covering a story. The first amendment of the United States constitution states:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances” (Cornell University Law School, 1992).
The first amendment protects the media from government int...
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... reporting these types of stories, it allows the public to trust them because they believe they have their best interests at heart. By being invasive when crimes happen in and around neighborhoods and not allowing people to have privacy, the media makes the public believe that they are only out to report stories and could care less about how people feel. That is why it is important that the media follows their code of ethics to make people feel safe and feel like human being.
References
Champion, D. (2007). Crime Prevention in America. Upper Saddle River, NJ. Pearson Education.
Cornell University Law School. (1992). First Amendment. Retrieved from http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/first_amendment
Greer, C. (ND). News, Media, Victims and Crime. Retrieved from http://www.uk.sagepub.com/stout/greer_news_media%20-%20vic_crime_soc.pdf
The first Amendment of the United States Constitution says; “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”[1] Our fore fathers felt that this statement was plain enough for all to understand, however quite often the United States government deems it necessary to make laws to better define those rights that are stated in the Constitution. Today the framers would be both encouraged and discouraged by our modern interpretation the First Amendment the United States Constitution.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances” (U.S. Constitution).
The minorities are vulnerable to the media because the minorities are shot and killed by the police. In the case of Michael Brown, who is a minority, being that he is a young black male, who allegedly was walking illegally in the middle of a street was shot by Darren Wilson a white police officer. In the accounts of what transpired Wilson the police officer said that Brown attacked him in his car, but an eyewitness alleged that brown was shot while holding his hands up in the air and was unharmed(“Police Brutality”). However the headlines in the media are emphasizing race, black vs. white, which is a controversial topic due to the history of black and white people. Do to events like slavery and segregation, yet the media seem to play on race instead of facts. Next, People don’t process or take in the truth. For example, in the case of Eric Garner, people bypass the part of Eric selling illegal cigarettes and all people hear is the Eric was put in a choke hold. The media realize how to exploit the minority faults. For instance the minorities have a low literacy rate. That means a most of the minority population don’t know how to read and write. The media know how to use their power to get an emotional reaction without providing a considerable amount of information and that can cause people to make irrational decisions. Lastly, how the media is affecting minorities because what
I wanted to save an example for the end, and the best one I can think of is this. Most true information about someone, someone else knows about, and therefore other people will soon learn. I pose this question. What would be worse? Digging up information and finding that the new mailman is really a rapist that the police have direct records of, or falsely accusing the new mailman of being a racist when in fact he is nothing of the kind? It's easy for me to say it is much worse to falsely publicize the news of the man than it is to give true information about him, even though you may have obtained in an unethical manor. Giving the truth is the most important aspect of the media and if we as a society cant believe what they say, why should we listen. I believe the media runs the world and people are going to believe what the media tells us. There is no way around it. In this overwhelming case, it is of utmost importance that it gives us the truth.
Ever since the beginning of news, there have been minor alterations to the reports. Doing anything to get their ratings to increase, changes would have to be made, whether it’s simply bending the truth a little or labeling someone or something. In Michael Parenti’s “Methods of Misrepresentation”, Parenti uses his methods of political bias in the news. The news main goal is to grab our attention, no matter what effects it has on the viewers. This is how some mainstream reporters are politically and media biased. “Media plays an extensive role in an individual’s daily life. Right from the second you wake up till you go to bed after saying goodnight to your wife, kid, parents, siblings or friends, you are surrounded in a world built just for you by the media.” (Shafi). The News isn’t the only one influencing the world; no one really notices this but Advertisements play an important role in Media Brainwashing.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceable to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” (Amendment I, The Constitution of the United States of America)
In “Reporting the News” by George C. Edwards III, Martin P. Wattenberg, and Robert L. Lineberry, the main idea is how the media determines what to air, where to get said stories that will air, how the media presents the news, and the medias effect on the general public. “Reporting The News” is a very strong and detailed article. The authors’ purpose is to inform the readers of what goes on in the news media. This can be inferred by the authors’ tone. The authors’ overall tone is critical of the topics that are covered. The tone can be determined by the authors’ strong use of transitions, specific examples, and phrases or words that indicate analysis. To summarize, first, the authors’ indicate that the media chooses its stories that will air
...plications, the public is able to share and obtain information before the morning newspaper is delivered. In addition, the media today continues to dramatize public events. Cases such as the Zimmerman Trial or foreign incidents in Ukraine remain headlines on news articles for months. Each source presents bias and influences its audience differently.
When it comes to falling victim to crime whether it’s violent or not, the victimization and embarrassment does not stop after the crime is done. Media can be useful in law enforcement and it can also be hurtful. While meant to spread awareness and helpful information, media can often relay too much information and potentially hurt people.
Journalists are protected by freedom of the press that is mentioned in the first amendment to the constitution.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or the press, or the right of peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for the redress of grievances” (United States Constitution).
The mass media is a vehicle for delivering information and to entertain. But implications that the media do more harm than good concerning its practices and its effects on the public. The two main categories of mass media are print media and electronic media. Although they overlap in some areas, they differ mostly in the subject matter they cover and in their delivery methods. Research had been conducted in using both these forms to gauge the impact that each one has on the public. Print media tends to be more factual based whereas electronic media tend to focus more on visual aids to help relay the information. The public’s fear of crime has an impact on the public agenda of policy makers. Fear of crime not only affects individual but may also have an impact on the laws that affect crime control and prevention.
The Freedom of the Press, as granted by the First Amendment, allows the Press great privileges, only a few of which have been discussed in this paper. Regardless of the open scope of the topic, it is irrefutable that the Press enjoys a vast amount of power and freedom in what it can and cannot do, and what it does or doesn’t have a right to. The mere fact that the cases discussed above are 5 in favor of the press and 3 not in favor, whereas 3 of the 5 cases are defamation cases, reflects on the actual state of how free the press really is in the American society, and how important the First Amendment and its purpose is to the American way of life.
In society today the media’s has an extensive influence on the public by mediums such as the internet, television news, newspapers and radio. In addition, crime is often considered both a source of news and entertainment with such programs as CSI, NCIS and Criminal Minds being some amongst many others that also influence public perception on crime (Hayes & Levett, 2013). Evidence shows that the medias portrayal of crime can indeed affect the public’s perception although evidence will demonstrates that crime perception can be unique to each individual. Evidence shows that media reports have the potential to strongly influence people’s daily activities (Weatherburn and Indermaur, 2004). When the media reports on a crime it triggers an effect
Basically, the media performs three functions to inform, to influence and to entertain. But effects of these functions are multidimensional in modern times. It has provided awareness about the whole world. In twenty-first century, media has a tendency to shape political, economical and social values of an individual. Moreover, media has eliminated the boundaries of information, so that a person can become an active citizen of the global economy. Hence, it is logical to state the media has become a basic need of human civic life.