media representations of crime and criminality Flashcards
how does the media influence legislative and policy changes?
- police use media to call on for support
- ppl begin to support tough on crime measures by supporting stricter laws and longer sentences that are innapropriate
*
how do racial victims suffer from media message?
- minority victims often ignored
- blamed for their victimization
how does media concentration limit perspectives?
they tend to report on the same things in the same ways
what is the relationship b/w gender and media messages?
- public cinsciousness that male = criminal
- media demonizes female offenders particularily when they commit crimes of violence
- media hold female victims responsible
- mansulinization of women
what is the issue with race and the media?
racial identification ends up creating connection b/w race and criminality
what is an example of race and media messages?
Jane Creba and Woodcock
- Jane caught in cross fire b/w 2 rival gangs
- portrayed victim as innocent (in a sense she was purified)
- juxtaposition of black communities and violence
- woodcock portrayed as having no respect for canadian values and the emphasis on his jamaican heritage
what are the 3 consequences of media exposure?
- disported perceptions
- unrealistic expectations
- legislative and policy changes
media is typically ideologicxally conservative
true
how does the medias distorted perspectives influence society?
- ppl believe crime more prevelant than it actually is
- ppl underestimate severity of punishment
- underestimate success of rehabilitive efforts
- this is how there comes to be higher tough on crime support
what is central to the prediction of the media strategies
- an incident gets transformed into an instance
- worst case presented as typical case
what are the 3 aspects of media strategies
- exaggeration and distortion
- prediction
- symbolization
what is an example of the legislative and policy changes that is perpetuated by the media?
Ontario sex offender registry
- police used media to call for support to iniciate it
- incident with a girl called Holly Jones
- What was left out of the discussion was that the man who was convicted had no criminal history of sexual offences
what is the symbolic relationhsip b/w the media and police
- police want media to get their message out
- media need insight/evidence to produce a story
unrealistic expectations pits society against criminals
True
how is crime framed in specific ways?
usually crime is framed as individual issues
- corporate homicide generally framed as an accident
media messages support ___ approach as a resonable solution for crime
crime control
what is the shot gun approach. what is is part of?
target largest audience possible
part of media strategies
what effect does the use of experts have on media
- confers credibility
- absolves media for what is said by expert
- media contacts specific experts to frame the message
how do unrealistic expectations create the vocabulary of force?
- ppl accept there is a war on crime b/w the police and the courts
*
what are the 3 main characteristics of the media
- driven by profit motive
- provide a socially constructed image
- use questionable sources of authority
how does the media exagerate and distort messages?
- use of the plural
- innapropriate use of terminology
- misuse of statistics
- shot gun approach
what is an example of “a word becoming symbolic of a status”?
what is an example of “an object symbolizing the word”?
what is an exmaple of “an object coming to symbolize the status”?
- hells angels
- harley davidson
- herley davidson = criminogenic
what are the 2 elements of sensationalism?
importance
- violent crimes are news worthy
- focuses on more salascious aspects of violence
provide socially constructive images and messages
- transform raw events into stories
- news constructed for public consumption
