Media and Crime

Abstract

Some experts argue that the media give greater prominence to certain types of crime and perpetrators while underreporting others. The media have the power to contribute to fear and prejudice among their audiences. Still, they also can act as a watchdog and serve the public interest by reporting on criminal activity by institutions, as well as legal compliance on the part of the government. Several main theoretical approaches are commonly used by experts to examine the interactions of media and crime representation well as always audience members use and interpret the information received.

Overview

The media are crucial producers and provide the means by which information is disseminated to mass audiences. Many societal issues, such as social deviations and law violations, are categorized as crimes and processed into public information by the media. Social perceptions of crime are influenced by many factors, including the media. For example, information about crime is shaped by the crimes and types of crime the media select to report, the methods by which they gather news and shape the narration, and the institutions and agencies they use as their sources.

A wide variety of studies exist on the ways in which media shape the representation of crime, victims, and lawbreakers, but also on the fear of crime and the appropriate responses to it. Many studies also focus on the ways in which audiences consume and interpret these representations. Although most agree that these portrayals are broadly influenced by ideology, it is also true that social and institutional factors are involved and are often in conflict with one another. It is also important to bear in mind that there are both similarities and differences in crime depictions, as represented in different media, such as serial shows and films, in literature, print news, and television news outlets. The representation of crime also varies according to culture and country.

In the recent past, few experts believed in such a thing as a conspiracy among the media to represent how crime was represented. Currently, a sense among many viewing audiences is that the opposite is now true. In the 2010s and 2020s, advances in digital technology had the unfortunate effect of making the manufacture of erroneous information disguised as journalism a lucrative way to advance a political agenda. Many extremist groups that do this traffic in conspiracy theories. The term for these types of notorious productions is “fake news.” Fake news can be based on events that never happened or reporting done in such a way that it completely misrepresents actual events that transpired. Many of these productions are professionally done, which also lends them a sense of legitimacy. In many respects, social media, and its ability to mass-distribute information, has taken over a role that previously belonged to legitimate news organizations. The issue with fake news is that its producers are not expected to maintain, nor do they respect, journalistic standards of ethics that have existed for decades. They also tend to reinforce, and certainly not challenge, the political beliefs of their social groups. These types of news media have become what in the past was considered “the media.” A more current— and differentiating—term for traditional or conventional news outlets has become “the mainstream media.” As the 2020s progress, many are wary of the impact Artificial Intelligence will have in likewise producing fake news for extremist groups.

In most cases, however, there is an abundance of crime events to report; therefore, journalists and producers must select which will be developed as news. The selection and style of crime reporting varies according to the type of media and institutional interests and views at each. Media consumers also play a role as they select which type of media to consume in line with their own preferences. Other elements add complexity to the representation of crime in the media, which include changes in industry and technology. Examples include the proliferation of cable stations catering to increasingly narrower demographic segments, the growing prevalence of "reality" crime shows and law-and-order serials, the rise of free and paid sources of news in digital media, and the increasing sophistication of news gathering.

Many news outlets now use amateur video and photographic footage captured and sent in by the public. The widespread use of surveillance cameras also provides an array of criminal events caught on tape. Most of the footage, however, is of events that occur in public spaces, so that other types of crime remain underrepresented in the public eye. Crime has enjoyed huge entertainment value in the media starting in the late eighteenth century, with the rise of print periodicals. One of the main consequences of the growing sophistication of media technology has been the ubiquitous featuring of crime in all types of media, including print, radio, broadcast, and film genres.

Further Insights

Research Findings. Crime reporting in news media has long been a focus of interest for research, particularly driven by the concern that some crimes are given more salience than others. The selective prominence of specific crimes, in turn, inevitably influences the perceptions of media consumers. A long tradition of media studies provides some key findings. For example, the audiences or readerships of media outlets that focus much of their time on crime report the highest levels of fear of crime and mistrust of others. This may occur even in areas where the incidence of crime is low.

Analysis of official crime statistics has shown that official crime data differs from media-reported crime. That is, there are frequent discrepancies between the proportion of crime as portrayed in the media and the actual proportion of crime events in the community. Audience studies reflect that the public believes the proportion of violent crime is much higher than it actually is. In fact, crime has been steadily decreasing. In other studies, crime statistics show that most reported crimes are nonviolent; media coverage, however, suggests the opposite. In most news media, violent crime is overrepresented, while nonviolent crime is underrepresented. Another issue of concern for researchers is the racial bias evidence in much of the media industry as pertains to crime. The relationship between crime and minority groups as portrayed in the media bears little relationship to its actual numbers.

News also skews the information between crime and legal control. For example, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the percentage of crime that clears (is solved) varies significantly according to offense. However, according to 2019 figures, the highest percentage of crimes cleared by police authorities is murder and non-negligent manslaughter, with 61.4 percent of reported crimes solved. This suggests that close to 40 percent of murder and manslaughter cases remain unsolved. The narrative of news reports and fictional serials, however, make crime control appear to be more effective than the numbers suggest it is. This response, to a certain extent, to a consideration of crime as entertainment, and the interest in creating a Manichean narrative, in which there are villains and victims, and justice always triumphs in the end. In fact, even television shows that focus on "cold cases"-those that remain unresolved long term-tend to show the crime event resolved at the end.

A wide array of studies shows that news outlets under- and over-represent specific groups as criminals or victims, according to gender, race, ethnicity, and socio-economic status. This provides misleading information about which populations are more prone to commit criminal acts or to be victimized. For example, while media focus on incidents of rape on campus, studies show that women in low-income areas are several times more likely to be victims of rape than college students; and yet, violent crime against low-income women has been underreported. Distorted representations of minorities as more likely to commit crimes fuel the entrenchment of stereotypes. In consequence, such distortions also play a role, some studies suggest, in how targeted populations are treated by the criminal justice system. For example, statistics show that males of color receive much harsher penalties, for the same crime, than their white counterparts. Research also shows that racial minorities in general and African Americans in particular are disproportionately featured as violent crime offenders. It is important to note, however, that many of these studies differ in their findings and have proven ambiguous or inconclusive, nor have they been able to prove direct causal relationships between crime representation and criminal justice practices and policies. Their value often lies in the patterns they uncover.

Theoretical Approaches. Several theories underlie most of the historical as well as contemporary research on media and crime. Broadly speaking, the most prevalent are those that focus either on measuring media effects or identifying hegemonic or dominant ideologies in media industries. These approaches, in turn, have theoretical subsets that are also widely used.

The media effects approach posits that media, especially broadcast, are one of the most influential sources of how people understand the world around them. For example, this approach is important in examining how crime information for news outlets is largely dependent upon daily police reports and, as with any other organization, police departments are guided by their own needs, interests, and priorities. In order not to harm ongoing investigations, for instance, they may have to omit information. There are also political concerns that may have to be taken into consideration.

As pertains to the public, the media effects approach often assumes that individuals receive information unquestioningly. Other studies, however, reveal that people do not receive news uncritically nor are the media their sole sources of information.

Individuals belong to many different groups, formed by kin workplace, and other organizations, in which they also gather and discuss information. Several media effects studies have shown that long-term exposure to a constant stream of alarming news cultivates fear in people not only of crime but of other people as well. It is important to keep in mind that these sentiments also depend on how the news is represented and if these representations are just reinforcing previously held assumptions.

Among the most important theories under this approach is the "agenda setting" theory, developed in the late 1960s. This theory posits that what people know about the world around them—including public affairs—is mediated by mass media. Whatever elements are salient in media productions, those same elements will become prominent for viewers. In this manner, then, the priorities of media producers and managers become priorities for the public. Analysis of crime and media from this standpoint would likely be concerned with how crime and crime perpetrators are portrayed, and who benefits from this. Because this theory also deals with issues of ideology, it can be considered under that approach as well.

Hegemonic approaches deal with ideologies or dominant sets of beliefs in mass media and the cultural industries. In short, the mass media aim to reproduce and disseminate hegemonic culture and ideas and to perpetuate systems of power. Such theories cover a wide range, from content analysis to the different ways in which individuals receive and interpret the products of media. This approach considers that media operate within an ideology and to promote an ideology, which is accepted, to different degrees, by audiences. In other words, media reports are ascribed specific meanings by producers who want to disseminate these ideas, but these are decoded or interpreted differently by different individuals. People do gain knowledge and internalize some meanings from mass media; however, this information is understood from the standpoint of their experiences and assumptions. These approaches are useful to examine how crime is portrayed by media outlets, and how these representations are interpreted by the public. More longitudinal studies may focus on the behaviors or policymaking that individuals or institutions may develop as a consequence.

Viewpoints

Mass media production, encompassing detective novels to news outlets, from reality shows to fictional serials, allot a great deal of effort to crime and police work. News media play a crucial role. Besides covering crime, news media provide many services for police departments in the form of public service announcements, missing persons alerts, calling for members of the public to inform about crime or and eyewitness events. In this manner, news media form relations with police departments and may mediate between them and the public. News about crime is often provided and presented from the point of view of police, and also serves to publicize the work police do. Moreover, reporters are often allowed to ride with police patrols as they make their rounds. Thus, reporters have the type of access to street crime scenes that is, for example, harder to come by in cases of white-collar crime, state corruption, and other types of crime. This, many argue, causes a slant on the types of news represented in media, which may not reflect statistical crime data for that society.

Others argue that the type of crime portrayed is what interests most of the audiences. Most police work is routine. Therefore, most of it is not considered newsworthy by the media and would make for tedious stories. Media concentrates on stories with a higher entertainment value, which is what the public prefers. This skews the frequency of the types of crimes represented; however, rather than an ideological bias among producers, it reflects public choice.

Still others argue that rather than becoming allies of police departments, mass media often create problems for these agencies. Media publications and programs often "police the police," or become watchdogs for the public interest. In other words, the media work as a sort of independent mechanism to ensure accountability by the criminal justice system and police compliance with the law. For example, news outlets may focus on specific and local instances of police abuse or corruption and give it national prominence; many police serials portray police departments as bogged down by faulty management and inefficient bureaucracy. To support this argument, experts cite instances in which media coverage has shed light on serious problems, causing embarrassment and leading to institutional changes. This type of coverage, according to some, leads to educating the public about problems faced by city, state, and federal government, such as lack of funds, the need for training, and other matters. However, other experts claim that cases of police problems or mismanagement are underrepresented to the point of being relatively rare in the media, except for a few more conspicuous cases.

Fiction may also play a deleterious role in the representation of anti-crime work. Some experts find that the depiction of police action in film and serials disseminate an image of police work that has little bearing on reality and yet may be problematic. For instance, many fictional accounts portray police officers who, frustrated with the hindrance posed by institutional ineptitude or corruption, must take the law into their own hands, often engaging in illegitimate forms of violence or vigilante justice, which violate civil and constitutional rights. Some of these characters have become cultural icons.

Finally, researchers of media and crime argue that an important type of crime largely underrepresented in the media is malfeasance in the private sector, also known as corporate or white- collar crime. Reporters have limited access to most company headquarters. Moreover, the larger the company, the greater the likelihood it has developed powerful connections with public entities, policymakers, and legislators. Companies hire attorneys or establish public relations departments whose job is to keep them out of the news except to promote the company's brand. Because of these and other hindrances, prosecution is rare relative to the amount of white-collar crime that occurs, according to experts. It is even rarer that it receives widespread coverage because corporate crime details are often difficult to comprehend. However, news coverage of private-sector crime is important because businesses are very concerned about their public image, and much effort is usually invested in upholding it. Coverage and representation of crime is, then, instrumental in effecting transformation, sustaining and establishing standards and compliance, and in driving organizational reform.

Terms & Concepts

Audience: The people who watch, read, or listen to something.

Crime: An activity that breaks the law. or an omission of a legally required action. There are many types of crime, such as violent and nonviolent, and these can be cataloged as felonies and misdemeanors. Some crimes are punishable by loss of liberty, others by a fine, others with conditional liberty or community service, or a combination of the above.

Hegemony: Influence or control over a group of people.

Media: An aggregate of communication formats used to create, store, and disseminate information to wide audiences. There is a wide array of media types, such as print media, digital media, broadcast, cable, film, and advertising.

News: Events that are reported in a media outlet such as print, television, etc.

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Suggested Reading

Doyle, A. (2006). How not to think about crime in the media. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 48. 867–885.

Farmer, B. (2014). Does the mainstream media hate blacks? New American 30, 23–28. Retrieved January 7, 2015 from EBSCO Online Database Academic Search Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=100061203&site=ehost-live.

Jewkes, Y. (2015). Media & crime (3rd ed.). Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.

Rhineberger-Dunn, G.M. (2013). Myth versus reality: Comparing the depiction of juvenile delinquency in metropolitan newspapers with arrest data. Sociological Inquiry, 83, 473–407. Retrieved January 7, 2015 from EBSCO Online Database SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=89047756&site=ehost-live.