L2 Crime and the media

How does the lecture define “media” in the context of crime and media?

It refers to news and coverage of crime, but the lecture stresses that media has changed over time, from print to sound, visual, and new digital media.

What historical shift in media forms is outlined?

1830s: print media dominates; 1920s: sound media; 1930s: visual media; from 1980 onward: new media.

Why does Surette describe crime and media as a “forced marriage”?

Because media coverage strongly shapes how people understand crime, criminal justice, and those within the system, even though the relationship is not always voluntary or balanced.

What is Joel Best’s idea of an incident becoming “an instance”?

A single event is transformed by news coverage into something broader, so it becomes treated as evidence of a larger crime category rather than just one isolated case.

What does Walter Lippmann mean by “we define first and then see”?

People interpret reality through pre-existing cultural categories and stereotypes, so social knowledge is shaped by experience, institutions, groups, and media.

How do media representations influence social construction?

They shape impressions of groups and individuals, reproduce ideas about class, race, and gender, extend assumptions about crime, and can create unrealistic fear that leads to demands for stronger intervention.

What are the main commercial constraints on journalists covered in the lecture?

Declining newspaper circulation, the rise of the internet, pressure to produce news cheaply, and a growth in “soft news” stories that require little investigation.

Where do most crime news stories come from?

Most come from criminal justice agencies and press agencies, not from independent journalistic investigation; TV news is especially likely to recycle information from other sources.

What are “news values,” and what do they determine?

News values are the criteria used to judge newsworthiness, meaning whether a story is considered of interest to the public.

Which news values are especially linked to crime stories?

Threshold, predictability, simplification, individualism, risk, sex, celebrity, proximity, violence or conflict, visual spectacle, conservative ideology, and children.

What is a “moral panic” according to Cohen?

A moral panic condemns wrongful behaviour, blames a usually male perpetrator, marginalises that behaviour, and emphasises the need for state intervention.

What are the three summary stages of a moral panic?

Exaggeration and distortion; prediction that more violence or conflict will follow; and symbolisation, where particular groups become negatively linked with deviance.

How do cautionary tales differ from moral panics?

Cautionary tales prescribe proper behaviour, usually blame a female victim or potential victim, and emphasise self-regulation rather than state intervention.

What is cultural trauma?

It is when an event is so significant that it permanently changes a group’s identity and creates a profound rupture in social order, dividing the world into “good” and “evil” with no ambiguity.

What are three major effects of crime news?

Crime news can influence government policy and legislation, shape public attitudes such as fear and punitive views, and have diffuse effects by reinforcing existing beliefs as part of collective cultural experience.