Topic Sociologist/ Theory Key findings
Media Key terms Moral panics- spreading of anxiety when minority behaviour is presented as a general threat of the well-
representations of being of society.
crime Folk Devils- group of individuals whose behaviour is presented as a threat to the well-being of society.
Labelling- a judgement placed on an individual usually by people in a position of power and authority.
Deviancy amplification spiral- the process whereby attempts to control deviance produce an increase in
deviance.
Master status- the dominate way both an individual and society sees an individual.
Moral entrepreneur- a person in a position of authority who discovers an opportunity to right a wrong.
News values- stories that are considered important enough for a front page headline.
Agenda setting- the ability of the news media to influence the importance of topics in the public agenda.
Problems with the Dickson found that British newspapers devote 30% of their news space to crime. Mass media distorts and
media exaggerates the level of crime in society. (1) media over represent violent and sexual crime, (2) the media
overplay extraordinary crimes, (3) the media exaggerate the risk of victimisation, (4) media coverage
exaggerates police success, (5) the media portray victims of crime as older and more middle class.
Media coverage 1950s/60s – coverage consistently focuses on identifying ‘sex fiends’ or ‘beast’ often by use of labels,
Schleisinger and Tumber –in 1960s coverage was on murders and petty crimes and under ¼ of stories were on
rare cases.
1980s/1990s- rape cases increased from under ¼ of all cases 1915 to over 1/3 in 1985 (Soothill and Walby) and
in the 1990s murder and petty crime were less interesting – replaced with terrorism, drugs, mugging, child
abuse.
News values and The social construction of news and news values- News isn’t ‘objective reporting’ of events, but subjectively
crime coverage selected by individual journalists. Cohen and Young (1973) – news is not discovered, it is manufactured. News
values is what is considered a ‘good story’ according to paper or TV channel. This will influence the
‘construction’ of news presentation. E.g. uses immediacy (‘breaking news’), novelty or unexpectedness,
simplification (eliminating shades of grey or ambiguities) and using high status individuals. The media gives so
much coverage of crime because news focuses on the unusual and extraordinary, and this makes deviance
newsworthy almost definition, since its abnormal behaviour.
Fictional 1. Surette argues that fictional representation of crime is the opposite to official statistics (recorded
representations of offences) and strikingly similar to news coverage.
crime 2. Property crime is under-represented and violent sex crimes are over-represented.
3. Fictional accounts of murder are the product of greed and calculations, while fictional sex crimes are
associated with psychopaths not acquaintance.
4. Infotainment (soft news which is for entertainment) shows feature underclass of offenders and show the
police as corrupt and brutal. However, audiences are expected to identify with victims.
Media Key terms Moral panics- spreading of anxiety when minority behaviour is presented as a general threat of the well-
representations of being of society.
crime Folk Devils- group of individuals whose behaviour is presented as a threat to the well-being of society.
Labelling- a judgement placed on an individual usually by people in a position of power and authority.
Deviancy amplification spiral- the process whereby attempts to control deviance produce an increase in
deviance.
Master status- the dominate way both an individual and society sees an individual.
Moral entrepreneur- a person in a position of authority who discovers an opportunity to right a wrong.
News values- stories that are considered important enough for a front page headline.
Agenda setting- the ability of the news media to influence the importance of topics in the public agenda.
Problems with the Dickson found that British newspapers devote 30% of their news space to crime. Mass media distorts and
media exaggerates the level of crime in society. (1) media over represent violent and sexual crime, (2) the media
overplay extraordinary crimes, (3) the media exaggerate the risk of victimisation, (4) media coverage
exaggerates police success, (5) the media portray victims of crime as older and more middle class.
Media coverage 1950s/60s – coverage consistently focuses on identifying ‘sex fiends’ or ‘beast’ often by use of labels,
Schleisinger and Tumber –in 1960s coverage was on murders and petty crimes and under ¼ of stories were on
rare cases.
1980s/1990s- rape cases increased from under ¼ of all cases 1915 to over 1/3 in 1985 (Soothill and Walby) and
in the 1990s murder and petty crime were less interesting – replaced with terrorism, drugs, mugging, child
abuse.
News values and The social construction of news and news values- News isn’t ‘objective reporting’ of events, but subjectively
crime coverage selected by individual journalists. Cohen and Young (1973) – news is not discovered, it is manufactured. News
values is what is considered a ‘good story’ according to paper or TV channel. This will influence the
‘construction’ of news presentation. E.g. uses immediacy (‘breaking news’), novelty or unexpectedness,
simplification (eliminating shades of grey or ambiguities) and using high status individuals. The media gives so
much coverage of crime because news focuses on the unusual and extraordinary, and this makes deviance
newsworthy almost definition, since its abnormal behaviour.
Fictional 1. Surette argues that fictional representation of crime is the opposite to official statistics (recorded
representations of offences) and strikingly similar to news coverage.
crime 2. Property crime is under-represented and violent sex crimes are over-represented.
3. Fictional accounts of murder are the product of greed and calculations, while fictional sex crimes are
associated with psychopaths not acquaintance.
4. Infotainment (soft news which is for entertainment) shows feature underclass of offenders and show the
police as corrupt and brutal. However, audiences are expected to identify with victims.
