AC1.4
Newspaper:
Newspapers tend to focus on extreme, sensational cases such as terrorist attacks, homicide,
even though these crimes occur much less. The articles are often full of gruesome details of
violent crime in Britain's streets. These violent crimes are often over reported in newspapers
and over sensationalised.
In press reports, both offenders and victims are typically older and of higher status than
those who turn up in the courts. Reports over-represent children, women, middle class, white
and older people as victims.
Ignoring the causes: Newspaper stories focus on particular incidents rather than on the
overall cause of crime.
Coverage of the police: Press reports tend to exaggerate the success of the police in
solving crimes,while crimes committed by police are often represented as the work of ‘one
bad apple’ rather than anything more widespread.
Soothill and Walby (1991) studied the coverage of rape in newspapers and found that the
reporting of rape cases increased from under a quarter of all cases to one third. They often
represented a distorted picture of rape as one of serial attacks carried out by strangers,
whereas, research showed that 45% of rapes were by partners.
Television:
Film:
A fifth of all cinema films are crime movies and up to half have significantly crime content.
The representation of violence has become more extreme over time.
After the trial of two- year-old James Bulger it was suggested that the two boys accused of
murdering him might have been influenced by viewing the ‘video nasty’ Child’s Play 3. Dale
(1935) found that crime was the second most frequent theme in films in the 1920s. Allen et
Al - Half of all films released in Britain between 1945 and 1991, which include American and
European films as well as British productions, had crime as a central part of the narrative
structure, with little change in this proportion over the period.
Electronic Gaming:
Many electronic games are based on shoot-em-up crimes like Grand Theft Auto/ Call of Duty
players engage in simulated violence and homicide. There is. Concern that young people
are becoming addicted to these games. In 2018, the WHO (world health organisation)
classified ‘gaming disorder’ as a medical condition involving the loss of control over gaming
so that it takes priority over gamer’s daily activities. One fear is that the heavy users of
violent games become desensitised. However, despite many studies of the possible effects
of exposure to violence there is little evidence to suggest this is the problem.
Social media: Blogs and social networking:
Newspaper:
Newspapers tend to focus on extreme, sensational cases such as terrorist attacks, homicide,
even though these crimes occur much less. The articles are often full of gruesome details of
violent crime in Britain's streets. These violent crimes are often over reported in newspapers
and over sensationalised.
In press reports, both offenders and victims are typically older and of higher status than
those who turn up in the courts. Reports over-represent children, women, middle class, white
and older people as victims.
Ignoring the causes: Newspaper stories focus on particular incidents rather than on the
overall cause of crime.
Coverage of the police: Press reports tend to exaggerate the success of the police in
solving crimes,while crimes committed by police are often represented as the work of ‘one
bad apple’ rather than anything more widespread.
Soothill and Walby (1991) studied the coverage of rape in newspapers and found that the
reporting of rape cases increased from under a quarter of all cases to one third. They often
represented a distorted picture of rape as one of serial attacks carried out by strangers,
whereas, research showed that 45% of rapes were by partners.
Television:
Film:
A fifth of all cinema films are crime movies and up to half have significantly crime content.
The representation of violence has become more extreme over time.
After the trial of two- year-old James Bulger it was suggested that the two boys accused of
murdering him might have been influenced by viewing the ‘video nasty’ Child’s Play 3. Dale
(1935) found that crime was the second most frequent theme in films in the 1920s. Allen et
Al - Half of all films released in Britain between 1945 and 1991, which include American and
European films as well as British productions, had crime as a central part of the narrative
structure, with little change in this proportion over the period.
Electronic Gaming:
Many electronic games are based on shoot-em-up crimes like Grand Theft Auto/ Call of Duty
players engage in simulated violence and homicide. There is. Concern that young people
are becoming addicted to these games. In 2018, the WHO (world health organisation)
classified ‘gaming disorder’ as a medical condition involving the loss of control over gaming
so that it takes priority over gamer’s daily activities. One fear is that the heavy users of
violent games become desensitised. However, despite many studies of the possible effects
of exposure to violence there is little evidence to suggest this is the problem.
Social media: Blogs and social networking:
