' Logan and Media Perceptions Tailor Holst – Placement Student (2014) Department of Community Services How does crime become over represented in the media and what are the effects it has on the residents/visitors of the Logan area? Logan has been found to be a victim of media selectively distorting and manipulating the public perceptions through manipulating and creating a false perception of crime. It focuses on uncommon issues and reports them as sensationalised. This can provoke a fear of increased crime when statistically crime incidents are decreasing. The main reasons for media over representing particular crimes is purely economically enhancing, however, their portrayals of crime and violence increase public …show more content…
Secondly, the mass media of communication are information sources to which the members of modern society widely attend and rely upon. Finally, as a number of researchers have documented, a substantial proportion of crime-related news is purely for entertainment content (Sacco, 1982). As a result of the essential correctness of these assumptions, the conceptualization of public perceptions of crime as, in large part, products of media influence appears to be most reasonable. Within such a framework the role of mass media as distributors of crime content becomes less noticeable. Although individuals generally lack experience with crime, they do not lack experience with their communities. If perceptions of crime are intricately related to more general perceptions of the environment, it is unrealistic to expect that they would cover in any consistent fashion which media consumption or exposure to crime content. In general, it is probable that the importance of the effect exerted by mass media upon perceptions of crime has been exaggerated by promoters of the argument. The relative influence of mass communications in this regard, as compared with, for instance, that of more informal communication processes such as gossip and rumour has been assumed rather than logically deduced or derived from empirical fact …show more content…
(2014), “Logan Perceptions and Realities Survey” Aug, 2014 Jewkes, Y. (2010). Media and Crime. London: Sage. Kidd-Hewitt, D. (2002). Crime and the Media. Criminology: A Reader, 116. Logan City Council. (2013). Logan City of Choice: Two-Year Action plan: Logan Logan City Council, (2014). Statistics and Facts - Logan City Council. [online] Logan.qld.gov.au. Available at: http://www.logan.qld.gov.au/about-logan/living-in-logan/statistics-and-facts [Accessed 23 Oct. 2014]. Orr, S. (2014). Gotta Love Logan Facebook page builds momentum after media mayhem. [online] CourierMail. Available at: http://www.couriermail.com.au/questnews/logan/gotta-love-logan-facebook-page-builds-momentum-after-media-mayhem/story-fni9r0nh-1226948235441 [Accessed 22 Oct. 2014]. Osborne, D. & Walker, D. (2014). Attitudes and Perceptions - Living, Working and Investing in Logan City. Logan City: Woolcott Research & Engagement. Sacco, V. (1982). The Effects of Mass Media on Perceptions of Crime: A Reanalysis of the Issues. The Pacific Sociological Review, 25(4), 475-493. doi:10.2307/1388925 Surette, R. (2011). Media, crime, and criminal justice: Images, realities, and policies. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing
The media has long been tagged as a catalyst that influences the way people act in their daily lives. In the article “Unnatural Killers”, author John Grisham criticizes the movie “Natural Born Killers” as the only influence upon which two youths commit murder. The various types of environments shown on media most certainly influence the thoughts people make towards certain situations. However, the ultimate decision of the actions taken is up to the individual; everyone is responsible for their own actions. Therefore, the defendants in the article should be declared guilty of the crimes done.
The increase in the use of the drug and violent crimes associated with abusing it impacted the rise of violent crimes. News coverage of the increase in crime associated with drugs led to hysteria throughout the country. Panic ensued over a public misunderstanding of violent crime and drug use. The media’s constant coverage added to the problem. “The attention to televised crime news leads to increased fear and concern, rather than that the already more fearful and concerned become more attentive” (Chiricos, Padgett, & Gertz, 2000,
The media grabs the viewers' attention by covering the most horrible and shocking crime stories. As a result, viewers become too emotionally involved with the victims of the stories that many viewers do not realize that our agency is being weakened. Without sufficient evidence about crimes, we are unable to find solutions to violence prevention or help cure violence epidemiology. The crime incidents that the media covers are rare. Most stories often involve violent incidents in which only one person is involved or when famous people are involved. Airing these stories leads people to believe that violent crimes are rare. In fact, most crime stories the media covers are not stories that take place within our community. In Stevens' article, journalists state that they "report the unusual" (113). Reporting crimes that are unusual leads us to a state of confusion. The viewers are unable to recognize what crimes are real.
Most people use second hand information as their core source of information about crime, this source of information usually being the media. When carrying out sample research in Birmingham, Susan Smith (1984) discovered that 52% of people obtained most of their information about crime from the media, 36% obtained it from hearsay or alleged experiences of friends and neighbours, 3% from their own experiences, and 1% from the police service themselves (cited in Jones, 2001; 8). However the media tend to exaggerate upon areas of criminal activity causing a moral panic. ‘A moral panic is a semi- spontaneous or media generated mass movement based on the perception that some individual or group, frequently a minority group or subculture, is dangerously deviant and poses menace to society. These panics are generally fuelled by the media, although not always caused by, media coverage of social issues… These panics can sometimes lead to mob violence… (newsfilter.co.uk).
In America, violence has always been an integral part of national culture. Crime and bloodshed are glorified both on and off screen. The more disturbing the act of violence, the more enthralled the public seems. The most prolific of crimes, those committed by infamous serial killers, inspire the most attention. As said by Jeff Lindsay, creator of the book series that inspired the wildly-popular television program, Dexter, “We’re sickened and disgusted, but we need to know. And the more we know about the scene, the more we really are horrified” (“Sympathy for the Devils”). Violence, especially committed by this special class of felons, is enthralling. News reports play a role in this strange attraction, as it is through the news that people even have knowledge of such killers, but the evolution in the “serial killer genre” (Lindsay, “Sympathy for the Devils”) of film and television helps to desensitize people to the gruesome murders that are committed. This begs the question of whether this disturbing trend should be stopped, lest the American “culture of violence” (this has a source) continues to grow stronger. Through news reports, film, and television, criminals are constantly romanticized through use of sympathetic characterization and gratuitous depictions of their crimes, which lends to peoples’ increasingly positive attitudes toward violence and, in turn, feeds the growing culture of violence in America.
The media plays a huge role in forming people's perceptions of crime. Without the media we would remain ignorant to occurrences outside our direct social groups. The media and especially news coverage therefore provides us with an important point of contact with the rest of society. In evaluating its effect on popular perceptions of crime it becomes important to consider where most of the information comes from and how representative it is on actual criminality. If it takes "facts" (the truth, the actual event, a real thing) or if it is heightened to a crime myth. With a myth being based upon "exaggeration" or heightening of "ordinary" events in life. Crime myths become a convenient mortar to fill gaps in knowledge and to provide answers to question social science either cannot answer or has failed to address. Myths tend to provide the necessary information for the construction of a "social reality of crime (Quinney, 1970)." As crime related issues are debated and re debated, shaped and reshaped in public forms, they become distorted into myth, as largely seen in the mass media.
Media portrayal of crime and criminal justice has become incredibly widespread in the last decade, with crime often considered both a source of news and entertainment. As a source of entertainment, crime and criminal justice have emerged as central themes across various sources of media. Most individuals do not have any direct experience with the criminal justice system, so their only source of information on this topic is the media. Particularly in television shows, portrayals of crime and criminal justice can be seen in everything from courtroom dramas to nightly news programs. Indeed, the popularity of crime shows has lead to some of television’s most enduring series, such as Law and Order and CSI. Because of this, fictional
The media is our main source of knowledge about crime and other issues about the world. It shows us what is happening in the world which is beyond our direct experience and so it is very important. However the media can present a false view of reality and contain bias that the public needs to be aware of. The way the media represents crime can reinforce fear and create moral panic but as media consumers it is our job to critically analyze the content of the news and ask questions about the crimes that are shown in the media as to not be effected by the media in trying to shape our perceptions about crime.
The media is by far the most influential mean in millions of Americans lives today and can be used to impact behaviors, especially in the vulnerable minds of children and young adults. The media is responsible for the increasing amount of violent crimes and desensitizing society with explicit imagery and the importance of our culture and contributing to negative behavior, society should pay careful attention to the kinds of role models we provide to the youth. Possibly, the most powerful source of role models can be found in every home: the computer or television. Television is a source that has given more knowledge in the past several years than any other kind of knowledge distributor, including books and newspapers. Television is the most dominant invention of the twentieth century and has created more public figures than radio, books, and magazines combined. However, the role models that are created through the television are not always upstanding citizens like Barrack Obama or Steve Jobs, but instead psychopathic murderers such as Jeffery Dahmer, Ted Bundy and Charles Manson. Not only is society fascinated by the media attention that certain types of citizens receive but they are also mesmorized by films that make these people look like tough fighters who can kill people with the snap of a finger. Actors such as Steven Segall, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Bruce Willis have have capitalized in violent films because of the media exposure as killers and murderers.
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.
The media is a dominating aspect of American culture. The way the media depicts crime and criminal behavior has an affect on the way society views crime and criminals. Television series such as CSI, NCIS, Law and Order, Criminal Minds and countless others, have become very popular in our society today showing that our culture has an immense interest in crime. It is clear that there is a fascination with criminals and why they do the things they do. To analyze the way crime dramas represent crime and criminal behavior, I completed a content analysis of one episode of Criminal Minds. The episode I chose was season one; episode eight, which first aired in 2005, titled ‘Natural Born Killer’.
...it is the advent of television media that have sparked debate over the integrity of reliable news making. Print media was factual, although sometimes sensational, while electronic media made use of the technologies, such as videotapes and live footage to enhance and exaggerate the drama of the event even further. Many research studies have been conducted to show the effects of the media coverage on crime and how it influences the publics of fear of crime. Mass media has perpetuated a notion that crime is on the increase by portraying events and tragedies in the headlines that are sensational. The public buys into that idea, despite statistical accounts that reflect stable or low crime rates. The more stories people read and watch about crime, the more likely they are to think that crime is out of control. Politicians may then enact legal reforms to sooth the public’s outcry for crime control and prevention. As easy as it may be to hold the media accountable for barraging us with images and ideas that affect our views and beliefs, it important that the public take responsibility for the information that we consume. After all, there is always the “off” button on the remote control.
Therefore, according to, (Fear, 2014) explains that “Fear of crime can be differentiated into the public feeling, thoughts, and behaviors. The personal risks of criminal victimization, distinctions can also be made between the tendency to see the situation as fear, the actual experience while those situation, and broader expressions about the cultural and social significance of crime and symbol of crime in peoples neighborhood and in their daily, symbolic lives.” The fear of crime however, do make individuals react a certain way. Individual are more aware of their surroundings. Individuals look for the media to report on crime so they can try to protect themselves and their personal
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
Romer, D, Jamieson, K, Aday, S (2003). Television news and the cultivation of fear of crime. Journal of communication. 53, 88-104