AC 1.4- describe the media representation of crime
Describe media representation of crime
Newspapers
Newspapers write a large number of stories based on crime,particularly violent
crimes,terrorism and street crimes, with 43% of tabloid readers believing that violent crime
had risen significantly.This is due to newspapers over-reporting violent crimes while not
reporting other crimes such as vandalism, which reporters find necessary to do to keep
readers interested.An example of over-reporting a crime occurred during the Manchester
bombing attack,which left 210 injured and 22 dead.Invasive images were taken straight after
the crime happened of victims and published, which featured on front covers of newspapers
for 2 weeks, creating a moral panic amongst readers who feared the same would
happen.Newspapers also tend to exaggerate and sensationalise crimes, for example a story
on moped gangs claimed there had been 22,000 moped muggings in one year, with a prime
victim being celebrity Michael Mcintyre. The story was focused mainly on Mcintyres story,
sensationalising the article and bringing fear amongst people who became fearful that the
same would happen to them after the moped incident was described as an ‘epidemic’. The
crime does not happen as often as it is portrayed , and therefore the newspapers use
scaremonger to bring fear into people.Typically, unusual crimes get more coverage because
people are more interested in them,as do violent crimes; people are more likely to want to
hear about a terrorist attack than a backstreet vandalism.
Television
In the 1950’s, one tenth of prime time television was devoted to crime, which has since risen
to one quarter of all tv shows.This includes a mix of fiction and non-fiction shows, most of
which focus on violent crimes.Non fiction shows are represented factually with little
exaggeration to demonstrate the seriousness of what has occured and to inform people of
the true facts.These shows are not glorified and reconstructions allow accurate images to be
formed.On the other hand,fiction shows tend to glamorise and glorify crime, showing a
luxurious lifestyle as the outcome of crime.They are often dramatised and embellished for
more views.Examples of non-fiction shows include Crimewatch,which accurately recounts
crime in an attempt for people to learn from their mistakes as well as educate people about
crime and policing methods. A fictional tv show based on crime is peaky blinders, where the
characters commit criminal acts in order to survive and have a nice life.
Film
One fifth of all cinema films are crime movies and up to half have significant crime
content,according to Allen et al. Films often represent both factual,real life crimes and
fictional stories relating to crime.Examples of this can include the Wolf Of Wall Street where
white collar crime,moral crimes,and domestic abuse are all glorified and glamorized.Jason
Belfort, the leading criminal in the film, is shown having a multi-billion dollar business,driving
luxury cars, owning multiple mansions and yachts, which encourages the positive image of
crime and shows purely the benefits, as well as encouraging crimes that are both deviant
and criminal,such as drug use and prostitution.This is an example of film sensationalising
crime yet again.Although this may be a high profile example of crime in which it is very
unlikely to ever occur again, more common crimes have been portrayed in films,such as
Green Street hooligans, in which a group of West Ham fans participate in multiple crimes,
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