For many years, media has been the key source of information concerning crime across the globe hence making crime account for most of the stories in media. The public’s knowledge of crime and justice is majorly derived from the media. Although many of these are minor crimes or offenses, the media always publicize crime more than it is supposed. For instance, Harper & Hogue (2016) noted that sex offenses in the United Kingdom comprised at least 20% of the media crime stories, while in reality, they constituted around 2% of all crimes. Extensive coverage of crimes by the media has thus made many questions the role it plays in influencing the public perception of crimes. According to some studies, the more people watch and read crime-related stories from the media, the more they fear crimes (Dowler, 2003). Therefore, this essay will examine the role of media in promoting the public perception of crime.
Exaggerated crime coverage by the media creates a fear of crime mentality in public. When the media overcovers many crime cases, most media consumers get over-exposed to violence. This overexposure makes the public assume or perceive crime as a threat, resulting in increased fear of crime. When the media continuously gives coverage to crime stories, they create the perception that the crimes covered are rampant even when the real crime rate is very small (Whitman, 2019). In return, the people end up mistrusting everybody and assuming their communities are very dangerous. Due to the fear of crime mentality, increased social isolation in the communities is observed while there is small societal cohesion and a strong willingness to support tough criminal justice policies, which may not help reduce crime. There have been various occurrences proven this roe by media. For instance, in the stranger danger campaign, the media gave a lot of airtime to warn teachers, parents, and children to take caution against strangers. Another occurrence that shows that media plays a role in creating a fear of crime mentality is the Summer of the Shark, which occurred in 2001(Pepin-Neff, 2019). During this time, the media played a series of shark attacks on the United States coast. Notably, attacks by sharks were very rare in real life, but the way the media portrayed it during their extensive coverage made people panic, and they believed that sharks would attack them.
Moreover, the Knock Out game of 2013 is another incident that led to fear of crime mentality due to the far-reaching coverage by the media (King, 2015). In this game, people randomly assaulted strangers on the street. However, there was little evidence to prove this, but the media went ahead to deliver a series of this news which created fear among people considering they saw that they would turn out to be the next victims. Exaggerated coverage of such crimes creates fear in the public since they perceive that they are likely to be victims.
Media tend to influence the public to perceive that types of crimes are very prevalent in the areas they live in due to sensationalism. This occurs when the media covers dramatic crime stories such as kidnapping and murder. People, as a result, start developing measures or attitudes, considering that crimes are very many (Badal et al., N.d ). A good example of how media crime can impact public perception is when Journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered in 2018 (Milanovic, 2020). The national and international media houses extensively covered the crime, bringing attention to this incident and making the public perceive that living in specific areas or voicing against powerful figures can be dangerous or life-threatening.
Additionally, the media coverage of Jamal’s murder developed public outcry, which resulted in people calling for justice using hashtag movements and other means in social media (Milanovic, 2020). Another example is the Casey Anthony trial of 2011 (Battaglia, 2011). The case was sensationalized by the media, where it was extensively covered. The public then accused the media of over-covering the crime, influencing how the public perceived the whole trial. Moreover, mass shooting coverage by the media has always been criticized for playing a role in glorifying the culprits and how the public perceives such mass shootings (Whitman, 2019). In the worst-case scenario, the copycats would have posed as the said culprits and continued with the mass shooting in different areas. In these cases, over-coverage of these occurrences made people feel that the insecurity due to such crimes was prevalent even though it was a single incidence.
One role that media plays in influencing the public’s perception of crime is leading to stigmatizing a certain group or place. This occurs based on how the media reports these crimes. When the media houses inexplicably give much airtime to crimes committed by a certain group in certain places, it makes the general public start stereotyping these groups or places, leading to stigmatization (Badal et al., N.d ). For example, suppose media houses continuously give reports of many crimes committed by immigrants only compared to other groups. In that case, it leads to stereotyping of immigrants where the locals in the area or country may push for anti-migrant sentiments. Notably, media houses have also been said to stigmatize people who are mentally unhealthy while covering crimes. While presenting news, media houses report that the suspect of violent crimes has mental instability without any factual information concerning that illness. As a result, the public may develop a certain stereotype that mentally unstable people commit violent crimes.
Additionally, through media coverage, LGBTQ stigmatization extensively occurs. For instance, if an LGBTQ member commits a crime, media reports extensively focus on his sexual orientation more than the crime the perpetrator committed. Such portrayal contributes to the dangerous stereotype that members of LGBTQ commit such violent crimes even if it was a single person who did it. Once such stigmatization occurs, it is obvious that such groups suffer real-world consequences such as discrimination. This means that even law enforcement officers tend to have skewed interactions and unfair treatment of the groups.
Media’s role in public crime perception can be influenced by its portrayal of the criminal justice system. Sometimes media deliver news framed in a way that shows a crime occurred, but probably justice has not been done for those who committed the crime. The media can shape news how it would want society to perceive and react. According to Intravia (2019), media portrayal of police misconduct, violence in crimes, and handling of criminal affairs in the justice system make the public perceive the criminal justice system as weak with all the gaps. There have been several case occurrences where the media has played a role the in influencing public perception of the criminal justice system. For instance, The Central Park Five case of 1989 is one of them. The case involved five young men convicted wrongfully for raping a jogger around central park based in New York (Stratton, 2015). On the positive side, the coverage made the criminal justice deal with the rapists, which portrayed the justice system as effective. Additionally, the media portrayal of police has a great impact on how the public perceives law enforcement .when police brutality is covered; it ends up creating a negative perception in the criminal justice system.
On a positive view, media coverage of crimes plays a role in making the public perceive crime as a social evil that needs to be addressed and the importance of the call for justice. When media houses give airtime to certain or all crimes, they open the public eyes to notice the many crimes that go unreported and even unnoticed. When the public calls for justice following occurrences of such crimes, the perpetrators are bought to book, and justice is finally served to the affected and the potential victims.
In conclusion, media can either influence the public’s perception of crime positively or negatively. This majorly depends on how the media decides to cover these crimes. Media houses are advised to report crimes responsibly by avoiding overgeneralization, stereotyping, and, most importantly, trying to create balance. To ensure more nuanced reporting, multifaceted elements contributing to crime will be considered. As a result, public perception of crime will be more informed by facts and not typecasting.
References
Badal, S., Bethel, T., Lawrence, S. A., Ramnarine, M., Springer Smith, E., & Whiteman, N. Investigating three prime time crime dramas and how they affect people’s perception of crime in Trinidad.
Battaglia, N. A. (2011). The Casey Anthony Trial and Wrongful Exonerations: How Trial by Media Cases Diminish Public Confidence in the Criminal Justice System. Alb. L. Rev., 75, 1579.
Dowler, K. (2003). Justice: The relationship between fear of crime and punitive. The Journal of Criminal Justice and the Popular Culture, 10, 109-126.
King, M. (2015). The ‘knockout game’: Moral panic and politics of white victimhood. Race & Class, 56(4), 85-94.
Milanovic, M. (2020). The murder of Jamal Khashoggi: Immunities, inviolability and human right to life. Human Rights Law Review, 20(1), 1-49.
Pepin-Neff, C. L., & Pepin-Neff, C. L. (2019). A Political Frenzy During Florida’s Summer of the Shark. Flaws: Shark Bites and Emotional Public Policymaking, 63-89.
Rogers, Tom. “Towards an Analytical Framework on Fear of Crime and its Relationship to Print Media Reportage.” Accessed on 4 June 2008. http://www.shef.ac.uk/socstudies/Shop/8rogers.pdf
Stratton, G. (2015). Transforming the Central Park jogger into the Central Park Five: Shifting narratives of innocence and changing the media discourse in the attack on the Central Park jogger, 1989–2014. Crime, Media, Culture, 11(3), 281-297.
Whitman, M. S. (2019). Media Influence on the Public Opinion of Criminal Justice Issues and Policies: A Quantitative Descriptive Study (Doctoral dissertation, Northcentral University).
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