Media and Crime

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Literature Review

There has always been a longstanding relationship between the media and crime. The newspapers have a duty to report it and the stories can make for excellent TV and film, however the line between reporting facts and creating a story can often be blurred. The celebrity killer is now a recognised figure within society with D. Schmid (2004:3) describing how “The celebrity culture around serial killers has developed so far that one can now purchase the nail clippings and hair of some killers, as if they were religious icons.” But is the media to blame for glamorising crime or is crime just automatically exciting and captivating? This literate review aims to analyse and critic research and theories concerning this field.

Despite committing hideous crimes there are many killers who become elevated to an “anti hero” status within popular culture. Raoul Moat is the most recent and very modern example of the anti-hero. Lee Barron (cited in Conroe, 2010) said “I think there will always be people who support those who set themselves against authority, it is a type of admiration and there is a romance within it.” Moat continuously battled against the police and instead of eventually surrendering to the authorities he instead took his own life, keeping himself in control. The public responded to his rebellion and related to him, his story and, as Barron stated, the “romance” to his story, yet others argued that it was the media saturation that created that romance. Johann Hari (2010) argued that the press cared more about “flashier front pages in a slow summer” than saving lives and stated that by presenting a relatable story it could lead to “copycat” killings in a bid for stardom. “Suddenly, they are shown a path where th...

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...ictim.

Over the years and with various mediums crime has illustrated in many different ways, ranging from the facts driven newspapers to the films that make the audience feel sympathy for the criminal. Although there is a significant amount of research conducted on the role the media plays in instigating people into the world of crime, there is a distinct lack of research and information on why the media is saturated with real life criminals-turned-celebrities and why the public continues to be fascinated by them. The information collected from a wide variety of sources indicate that criminal’s stories provide a source of entertainment and fascinate the general public and there will always been a strong desire to read or watch the next story. The majority of my literature agrees with my hypothesis and gives detailed examples and research into the subject matter.

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