Exam-style answer that would be given in an exam, typed on Word in the first year of college for Criminology course within the 'Changing awareness of crime' booklet that has been made.
AC1.4 and 1.5
Newspapers represents crime as tabloids and broadsheets, they usually dramatize the
stories they show to the public which can create fear and therefore create false
interpretations of crime. Around 7 out of 9 newspapers are related to crime which they tend
to exaggerate. A tabloid of the Manchester terror attack was made and it has more pictures
and is much more simplified as it overdramatises it, many people use these to get a brief
explanation of the crime. The other is broadsheet of the same event where there is more
words and is aimed at older people, it also includes more proper information.
Moral panic is where the media representation can amplify the panic and stress of the
public due to the exaggeration of the crime therefore can lead to hatred and violence
throughout society. Stan Cohens Folk Devils was a form of moral panic as he recorded how
the public would react to the local newspaper that magnified the crime of the 'mods’ and
‘rockers’ by referring to it as a ‘battle’ which gave the impression it was a bigger deal
whereas only £200 worth of damage occurred.
The public can request the police and government to change their priorities, this may lead
to other major crimes not being sorted out therefore society will have more
unacknowledged crimes. ‘Dangerous Dogs’ in 1991 which prohibited and restricted certain
types of dogs in the UK. The newspapers made it seem as though dog attacks are really
common and that they only target children but there were only 11 attacks over a year,
which as a consequence led to the public panicking.
One type of media that portrays crime is film, in a factual and fictional way and is shown.
Around 50percent of films are crime related but most films will have some form of crime in
them. The Wolf of Wallstreet is a film about the famous stockbroker who made a huge
fortune through fraud, the film makes it seem fun and very easy to preform the white collar
crime where in reality it would be much more harder. A fictional film such as Joker
represents crime as easy to do and gives the impression that it is good to commit crimes
when music is played in the back of the scenes.
Another media that shows crime is games which represent it as an exiting action as music or
rewards can be taken from it, this can then lead to the replication of it in real life. Grand
Theft Auto is a fictional game where it shows the player and others committing huge masses
of crimes an as the player progresses though the game they will feel desensitised to crime
and violence as the game shows it in a fun light. Another game named ‘Doom’ which is a
game where the aim of the game is to kill. This is linked to the Columbine High School
Shooting Massacre in 1999 where it created moral panic.
In the music media it usually portrays a lot of crime especially in the rap and rock genre,
they will glorify the crimes like it is a very common thing which can lead to the replication of
the crime. There is and average of 1.36 mentions of crime in each rap song recorded. Snoop
Dogg in the song ‘smoke weed every day’ he is evidently glorifying the use of drugs. As well
as this Ice Cube who gives reasons to why he is a ‘thug’ in the lyrics ‘they gave us guns and
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