Knife Crime Essay

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Crime is of specific concern in Australian society, where the media article entitled “Geraldton man jailed for 'chilling' knife attack on ex-wife and friend”, reported by Joanna Menagh on the ABC News website in March of 2018 is no exception. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, “acts intended to cause injury” can be attributed to 19% of all crimes committed between 2016 and 2017 in Australia, being one of the most common offences (2018). Where media coverage is a prominent channel of communication for crime news, employing news values is essential to maintain consumer interest.
Violence is one news value which is pivotal in the success of this media article, where it is proposed that the extent of violence inflicted on victims determines the story’s newsworthiness. Knife crime prevalence in attempted murder accounts for “30–40% of such offences” (Bartels, 2012) in Australia, though there is “no upward trend in knife attacks” (Palmer, De Lint and Dalton, 2017 p 70). The maliciousness of …show more content…

It was proposed by a Justice with the Supreme Court of Western Australia, Janine Pritchard that “the "merciless" attack was not frenzied, but rather "calm and chilling", with the intention to "cut" and "mutilate"” in Smith’s "desire for retribution”. This enhances the psychotic state of the attacker which is typically only seen in embellished crime shows. Dramatization is consecutively evident where the attacker described himself as "the victim of his own crime because he will not be there for his children", engaging the audience as they are able to comprehend his warped mindset, believing that he too is a victim though in turn further condemn his callousness. It is through intentional dramatization that the audience can comprehend the enormity and extremity of the violence inflicted on the

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