The Quality of Newsworthiness and the Manner in which Crimes are Reported - Literature review Example

The media, crime and newsworthiness Customer Inserts His/Her Name Customer Inserts Grade Course Customer Inserts Tutor’s Name 07.09.2012 The media, crime and newsworthiness “The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses” (Malcolm X). Introduction In support of the claims made by Malcolm X, the media is capable of representing information in number of ways. A critical exploration of the media representations is essential in the recent past considering that victims have undertaken some significant consideration in the media discourse as well as in criminal justice. The quality of newsworthiness in media reporting results from the collection of factors in certain matters that make them sufficient to be reported in the news. This factors range from timing, proximity to viewers or listeners, significance, human interest and the prominence of the people who are covered. Crime reporting has been an issue in the academics with the greatest issue being the manner in which it’s done impacts to the society and whether the particular reported crime was newsworthy in the first place (Sun Beale, 2006). In this article, there will be a highlight of the quality of newsworthiness and the manner in which crimes are reported. In assessing the issue, the article will look at two media reports that depict crime and assess whether these reports fit into the categories of being newsworthy. At first, there will be a short analysis of the two reports, starting with the stories behind them and the manner in which they were portrayed to the public. There will be focus on cases of media reporting on crimes in the country and the impacts it has brought along. News media and crime Different crimes receive differing attention in the news media. At times this coverage maybe given to victims who are discredited based on their past history that may be questionable. In most cases, media attention is focused to victims who can be branded as legitimate victims. In such cases, the most affected are the defenseless, innocent, vulnerable and those that call for sympathy. According to Carrabine et al. (2004), there exists a hierarchy of victimization considering that others are less victimized by the media. Those who are ideally victimized generate a lot of media attention and thus may lead to various changes in the policy making practices in the society (Greer, 2005). There is little literature on the criteria that makes various events newsworthy or attractive to the media. The aspect of newsworthiness, according to Greer is shaped by values that are new. This means the criteria that come within the horizon of media recognition and the ones that fail to achieve the status. Some study by James Hamilton has found out that broadcasters adjust the violence level in their programs to the audience that they are targeting in order to attract products which are to be advertised. This manipulation of levels of violence seeks establishing some brand identities, increase viewers, and to counter popular programs in the competing channels. In programming for entertainment, violence then becomes a strategy that is economically set to develop some certain audiences. Due to this fact, coverage of violent crime has been on a sharp increase and this has resulted to a shift in the coverage nature. Case analysis: Canadian press coverage on missing and murdered Aboriginals vs. whites Since the 1980’s, there has been cases of missing and murdered women in Canada. There has however been less coverage of these issues in the media. This case will compare cases of three missing or murdered Aboriginal women vs. three missing or murdered white women. According to a close analysis, as looked into by Gilchrist (2010), there were huge disparities between the amounts of media content between the two groups. The Aboriginal women received less coverage, were represented by less articles and their stories were less often in the front pages. Images depicting the Aboriginals were less detailed as compared to the whites who were detailed and more passionate. On this case, Gilchrist (2010) outlined the features that make some victims or crimes newsworthy. He also highlighted the racial bias that was evident in news reporting of violence and crime against women. Despite the demonstration of continuity, compassion and commitment towards the coverage of the White women, there was less coverage of the Aboriginals and thus some relegation in status as the other part of the society (Jiwani and Young, 2006). According to Jiwani (2006), newsworthiness is what makes a story worth to be told to a specific audience. The criteria of determining newsworthiness can change in accordance with the reporter handling the matter or the organization doing so. In general cases, newsworthy events are those that are dramatic, unusual or those that have a theme that is continuing. Features like conflict, deviance and certain actions can make certain events become newsworthy. Other factors that make the events newsworthy or worth reporting are their proximity to the target audience. Cultural proximity is also a factor and can be described as the factors that make an event meaningful to a certain culture. There are millions of events that happen in the world today though only a fraction becomes news. There is a hierarchy of crime that operates in the news media. This happens to indicate that all crimes are almost equally newsworthy. Severe violence leads the list of newsworthiness; however, white females receive the most attention. Sexual violence also receives substantial attention. According to Gilchrist (2010), news tools exaggerate violent crimes against white women in high statuses. In the case at hand, the total reporting in articles that was attributed to the white women totaled to over 500 articles whilst the reporting that was done to the Aboriginals was in slightly less than 200 articles. The articles were also placed differently on various newspapers according to Gilchrist (2010). A larger percentage of the articles about the white women were placed on the front pages as compared to the Aboriginals. Decisions on what makes up an event newsworthy is in most cases hinged on the perceptions of crimes that the newsmakers think the audience will be interested in. An intersection of the oppression legacy has placed the Aboriginal women at the Canadian news margins according to Jiwani and Young (2006) and Gilchrist (2007). According to Jiwani and Young (2006), Aboriginal women are at the lowest social order and are therefore invisible and expendable. In a study of “Print Media Reporting of Crime in the Melbourne CBD”, there is an insight into the effects of the media in the manner that crime is perceived in the society. According to Drug and Crime Prevention Committee (2001), print and visual media are very powerful in the way that they create perceptions of crimes in any set of people. The manner of the reported crime, however, raises the newsworthiness of crime and related issues dilemma. There is a very significant role that is played by the media in the manner in which popular perceptions of crime are shaped. For most Australians, knowledge about crime comes from the media. Due to this fact, images that are produced by the print media penetrate into the popular groups and thus get into people’s consciousness, influencing the perceptions of the society in a manner that is beyond the span of other sources of information on crime. There is an unprecedented manner in which in which the power of the media has and the influence that it has on the society. According to the Drug and Crime Prevention Committee (2001), there was considerable attention that was given to the crime and related issues in Melbourne CBD by the Victorian media. This was after an analysis of The Age and Herald Sun newspapers. There was increased attention given to crime and related issues in the two newspapers between 1995 and 2000 through the manner of the reports that were issued. The crime types also changed ranging from nightclub violence in 1995 to more drug related crimes towards 2000. An insight into the findings of the report shows gross media influence in the types of crime committed. Greer (2010) looks at the manner in which the traditional newsworthiness of crime misses out from the current visual reporting. The manner in which the media events can be portrayed in images is looked at in this case, with a keener analysis on the selection of crime events. Getting back to the case of the aboriginal women vs. white women, there is a very huge contrast in the coverage and newsworthiness of the two groups. Aboriginal women were evidently left out of the press thus creating a feeling that while lives are more valuable as compared to black lives. The little coverage of the aboriginals suggests that their stories were less worthy to tell. The greater visibility of the whites outshone the Aboriginals thus bringing out a feeling that the white were more legitimate (Jiwani, 2008). Not covering the plights of some groups as evident in this case might bring about some lack of attention. Media attention that is subjected to certain events is also likely to affect the manner in which the police will look at the issue. The more attention that will be given to a certain event will call for more police attention and thus there are high chances that more resources will be expended to finding a solution (Gilchrist, 2010). The treatment of the Aboriginal women by the media thus leads to their annihilation and a consequential marginalization by the society. The manner in which crime is reported suggests the actions that are to be put in place owing to the nature of reaction received. A good example is Brown’s (2010), “Tackling Melbourne’s growing knife culture”. In this article, concern is brought up regarding the increasing number of stabbing incidents in the city. The article goes ahead to highlight some of the incidences, how they happened and the manner in which the authorities are reacting to the incidences. This is a very clear show of the manner in which the necessary authorities can react towards media news. Conclusion Looking at the variations in the market and medium of information, mass media has become saturated with stories of crime. According to previous research, there is then a complex interconnection between crime, the behavior of criminals and the justice system. In the case study, white women might deserve the widespread attention from the media given the nature of their deaths. This coverage evokes feeling from the public and the attention leads to action from various corners. The state however is dangerous given the wanting nature of the aboriginal safety. This leads to a need for total removal of the media bias. In the construction of crime stories can be attributed to some kinds of blame. Serious crimes can be blamed on the individuals and in some cases directed at the society in case of social crimes. When the victims of crime represent the problems that resonate in the society, the nature garners varying ranges of public audience. The newsworthiness of the crimes and the manner in which the crimes are reported lay dependent on the society. According to the posed discussions and in support of the claims made by Malcolm X, the media is capable of representing information in number of ways. A critical exploration of the media representations has been deemed essential in the recent past considering that victims have undertaken some significant consideration in the media discourse as well as in criminal justice. The quality of newsworthiness in media reporting results from the collection of factors in certain matters that make them sufficient to be reported in the news. This has been evidently displayed in the matter of the murder of the Aboriginal women as compared to the white women. Crime reporting has been viewed as an issue in the academics and in particular fields of research with keenness on the manner in which certain events were considered newsworthy with respect to others (Sun Beale, 2006). References Brown, S. 2010, “Tackling Melbourne’s growing knife culture”, ABC News Online, 10 March, viewed 6 June, 2011 . Carrabine, E., et al. (2004). Criminology: A Sociological Introduction. London: Routledge. Drug and Crime Prevention Committee 2001, Reporting Crime in the Melbourne Central Business District, Parliament of Victoria, Melbourne, pp.104-114. Gilchrist, K. (2010). Invisible Victims: Disparity in Print‐Media Coverage of Missing and Murdered Aboriginal and White Women., MA Thesis, The University of Ottawa. Greer, C. (2005) “Crime and media: understanding the connections”, in C. Hale, K. Hayward, A. Wahidin and E. Wincup (eds), Criminology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Jiwani, Y. & Young, M. (2006) Missing and murdered women: reproducing marginality in news discourse. Canadian Journal of Communication 31: 895-917. Jiwani, Y. (2008) “Mediations of domination: gendered violence within and across Borders”, in Feminist Intervention in International Communication: Minding the Gap, edsKatherine Sarikakis & Leslie Regan Shade, Rowman & Littlefield, Plymouth, pp. 129–145. Sun Beale, S. (2006). The News Media's Influence on Criminal Justice Policy: How Market- Driven News Promotes Punitiveness, 48 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 397 Vol48 (2):2. Read More