Media Representations of crime Flashcards
What is non-fictional media
Media which claim to report on facts such as the News
How does non-fictional media represent violent and sexual crimes
Over-represent violent and sexual crimes:
46% of media reports were about violent or sexual crimes yet these only make up 3% of crimes recorded by the police.
Marsh: US violent crime 36x more likely to be reported on than property crime
What do statistics say the most common crime is
Property crime
What is the Dramatic Fallacy and who is is by
When the media over-represent extraordinary crimes (eg terrorism/murder) and underplay ordinary crime
Made by Felson
What is the Ingenuity Fallacy
When the media romanticises criminals as being daring & clever
What is the Age Fallacy
When the media portray criminals & victims as older and more MC
What do the statistics show about the most common criminal
More likely to be Young and WC
Who do the media (non-fictional) exaggerate the risk of victimisation for
Women, white people and people of higher status
What do the statistics show for those who are more likely to be victims of crime
WC, males, people form minority ethnic backgrounds
How does the non-fictional media exaggerate police success in solving cases
Police are a source of crime stories and want to represent themselves in a good light.
Also, the media over-represents violent crime which has a higher clear up rate than property crime.
What is an evaluation for non-fictional media exaggerating crime
Certain media outlets represent a more accurate view of crime such as the BBC
Some media outlets report on crimes by police and the powerful, making it more realistic
Why do the media present crime differently to real life
To sell and get readers
What do Schlesinger and Tumber say about if the type of crime coverage is changing and why
1960s media focused on murders and petty crime but by 1990s it became of less interest
Why - due to the increase in crime rates = crime had to be ‘special’ to be featured
Focus widened to include - drugs, child abuse, terrorism
How is sex crime coverage is distorted
It is shown to be done by a psychotic stranger - BUT most case, done by someone known by the V
What are the News Values
Criteria by which journalists use to decide whether a story is ‘newsworthy’
