Media and Crime Revision Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering sociological concepts, studies, fallacies, and news values related to media representations of crime.

Media representations of crime

Depictions across platforms such as newspapers, TV, film, gaming, social media, and music that influence what people know and believe about crime.

2002 London survey

A survey finding that $80\%$ of respondents cited news media as their main source for policing information, and $29\%$ named media-fiction as crucial.

Circulation and profitability

The commercial objectives newspapers compete for by using crime stories.

Soothill and Walby (1991)

Researchers who studied newspaper coverage of rape, demonstrating that media coverage distorts the picture of crime compared with crime statistics and surveys.

Rape reporting trend (1951 to 1985)

An increase in newspaper coverage of rape cases from under one quarter of cases to over one third.

"Sex fiend" or "beast"

Sensationalist media labels used to portray certain rape offenders.

Distorted image of rape

Media depictions portraying rape as serial attacks by psychopathic strangers, contrasting with the reality that victims often know the offender and $45\%$ of rapes were committed by partners.

News value

A criterion used by media creators to decide whether a story is newsworthy.

Immediacy

A news value based on whether the story is recent or happening now.

Dramatisation

A news value characterized by an emphasis on action and excitement.

Personalisation

A news value emphasizing a human-interest focus on individuals.

Higher-status (news value)

A news value referring to stories involving celebrities or high-status people.

Simplification

A news value presenting clear-cut good and evil while removing shades of grey.

Novelty or unexpectedness

A news value defined by presenting a new, unusual, or surprising angle.

Risk (news value)

A news value centered around victim-focused stories concerning vulnerability and fear.

Violence (news value)

A news value where visible or spectacular acts are more likely to be selected for reporting.

Social construct (in news)

The concept that news is shaped by human selection and decisions rather than being neutrally collected.

Cohen and Young (1973)

Theorists who argued that news is manufactured rather than simply discovered.

Age fallacy

The media distortion implying that all age groups are equally involved in crime.

Dramatic fallacy

The media focus on violence that can create fear, especially among older people and women.

Ingenuity fallacy

The media portrayal of criminals as clever, despite much crime actually being opportunistic.

Class fallacy

The media distortion implying that middle-class people are more likely to be crime victims.

Police fallacy

The media portrayal of police officers as being more efficient than they really are.