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The media plays a critical role either directly or indirectly in ensuring that the public is informed on matters that affect their lives. There are different types of media and coverage which determines what kind of crime stories are to be covered by each and to what extent. For example, the national press covers crime that is on national limelight rather than individual crime stories unless there is uniqueness in them. Local media, on the other hand, covers most crime stories within a specified geographical area. Since local media has a smaller geographic coverage as compared to the national press, crime stories get in-depth coverage; an advantage national media does not enjoy (McBride &Jessica, pg. 31).
Introduction
Web-based type of media is rapidly becoming common as a way of covering crime. This coverage is done entirely online on social media platforms. Its popularity is quickly growing since a large percentage of the population is technology enabled and the fact that information can be instantly distributed among masses at high speeds. Web-based media has overtaken newspapers as news are shared without having to wait for the next day for a paper to publish them. Web media use was seen immensely during the hearing and sentencing of David Russel Williams. He is a Canadian serial killer who until his arrest in February 2010 was a colonel in the force commanding the country’s largest military airbase (Hickey, Eric, pg. 364). During his sentencing, reporters tweeted live the developments and proceedings of court for the outside world to see. He was convicted of first-degree murder, sexual assault, forcible confinement, and breaking. The challenge that has come with this type of media coverage is there is no protection of the offenders and victims of crime from online trolls and comments that may be hurtful to them (Augie, pp. 7-9).
Media also cover crime in the form of hard news. Hard news is news that is current and being covered as it happens or shortly after. It is usually time sensitive and delivered in a way that suggests that the public need to be on the know while it is happening. Crime stories that form examples of hard news include an arrest, a serious offense, or a verdict in a high-profile case.
In-Depth coverage of the lives of crime victims and their family form what is known as soft news. Soft news tends to look deep into hard news and bring out what may not have been said and discoveries. Those covering soft news tend to be sensitive to the victims’ stories rather than time sensitive.
Columns and editorials have also come in handy in media coverage of crime where writers of columns can report and more importantly, air their own opinion on matters of crime such as made arrests, fines, and sentencing of offenders. They are not always based on facts but instead on the general view of the writer on an aspect in a criminal process. Columnist differs from journalists in that they are not free from bias in their reporting. They have an essential role in keeping watch of the justice system by airing their opinions when they sense that justice was not well served (Augie, pg. 9). Different columnist will have different views on each crime story, and this will always determine who their followers are after each story. Those who agree with their opinion at that particular time will push their story, and those disagreeing will disregard their views. A crime story that may attract the attention of a columnist is if an offender’s sentence is deemed too lenient thus prompting the columnist to write complaining about the penalty and even the judges.
The internet has generally propelled media coverage of crime. This is in addition to the twenty-four-hour news reporting that has been adopted by most national and international television companies such as CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) and CTV (Canadian Television). People no longer have to depend on traditional broadcasting where there was a set time for news broadcasting. These television networks are regularly reporting news as they occur, so issues of interest are aired (Bikram, et al. pp. 25-27). This system is of importance in that warnings can be sent out to the public to avoid areas where crime is ongoing. For Canada, a country that has in the recent years seen a rise in crime especially single perpetrator events, shooting sprees, and rampage killers, twenty-four-hour reporting has enabled would be victims to keep clear of such crime scenes. These events can be described as massacres, that is, deliberate killing of a mass of individuals in a ferocious way especially when they can’t protect themselves.
The media industry is facing an upcoming challenge in reporting of crime by having less personnel and inadequate resources due to declined revenues. This is because there is competition in the media industry with the introduction of many media houses and outlets all competing for the same story. Therefore, a single story ends up in all media outlets and may suffer dilution or even exaggeration in a bid to bring out uniqueness. Many are times that the media has been on the receiving end for producing fabricating and confusing crime stories what one media outlet reports contradict what the other reports and this result in a confused public.
The Canadian Newspaper Association estimates that there are ninety-five daily newspapers in the country. The competition is therefore genuine. The media has high power in controlling public opinion on matters of crime and to control the formulation and execution of policies of the government. The media has a significant role in determining what stories are aired out and those that are not. It in return determines whose voice is heard and whose voice is silenced as evident in the public outcry that happened after the realization that Graham James, a notorious sex offender had received a pardon. It is agreeable that the media has been immensely involved in seeking justice for some of the crime victims by voicing their grievances and concerns (Bikram, et al. pp. 10 -12).
An issue arises with the complexity of what the media covers or not. The editors will usually control what is included in a news report and what is not. In this way, those who cover new will determine the perception of crime depending on the intensity of news coverage and what details are included in the coverage. The opinion of the public on offense will be based on what the media has chosen to tell the people and what it has hidden (Bikram, et al. pg. 3). It is through the media that the public will estimate the rate and kind of crime that happen in their neighbourhoods and cities. The press to shape the sort of attention the people will give a particular featured story on offense. For example, the way a reporter will phrase the headline and where the story will be placed in a paper will determine whether it captures public attention or not.
Crime stories from the fourth largest category of accounts covered by the media. Because no Canadian newspaper lacks a feature on crime, it is evident to the public that crime rate is on the rise and therefore a cause for concern. Although many forms of corruption occur, homicide garners significant attention and coverage in the Canadian media. This is due to the likelihood of the media to focus on stories that are extreme, unique and capable of attracting maximum interest. There are crime stories that are newsworthy and those that are not. The reason some stories are newsworthy is their ability to capture headlines for days, their rareness and the effect they have on people such as shock, fright, and fear. It is common for the media to focus on the homicidal death of a family man and not focus on the killing of a homeless man. The press decides for the public what is worth focusing on.
It is not uncommon for the media to do more coverage on crimes that are committed by strangers and less coverage on those committed by persons known to the victims. A good example is a sexual assault or kidnapping. A case where a woman is sexually assaulted in her home by a stranger who broke into her home will be more newsworthy than an incident where her husband attacks a woman (Tammy, pg. 18). All the crimes are equal in their intensity and seriousness, but the media will make one seem more pressing. By hiding the others, the media creates an impression that those crimes are not happening and if happening they are unreported. Even worse is the creation of a reaction to the public and especially the victims that such crimes need no attention and it ends up that victims suffer in silence while the society adopts them as regular occurrences.
How the media covers crime stories in Canada has developed a notion that some victims are more innocent than others (Tammy, pg 20). This is an indirect victimization of crime victims by the media. A woman raped while in her house would make an ideal victim than a woman who is assaulted at a party. Such kind of profiling leave out some victims from seeking help as it will be seen like they attracted trouble unto themselves. Legitimizing victims by the media is one of the way media reporting impact negatively on victims.
The media portrayal of onscreen violence has contributed to the general behaviour of people. With people becoming mostly interested in seeing things as they are, the media has been a platform that is increasingly becoming uncensored on things appropriate for display to the public. On-screen viewing of violence has been connected to increased aggression, fear, aping and violence with children being most at risk. There is a recognition of the association between watching violence and being aggressive and violent. With such a discovery, copycat crimes are not a surprise.
According to sociologists, how the media cover crime has dramatically impacted on the lives of people especially the youth with an intensification of anxiety (Gerbner et al., pg. 172). There is a distorted reporting on the part of the media as they are taking on biased coverage of crime. This has in return created a public perception that the world is generally mean and there is the elevation of crime in the streets while it may not be true. What people perceive does not mirror reality.
There is a critical question that the media during its crime coverage need to ask; how much information is too much. With the majority of people technologically empowered, there is a rise in the urge and feeling of entitlement and the right to know no matter how life is impacting a story may be. This prompts the question of whether there is a need for the media to report and showcase all the gruesome details of a crime to the public. That kind of crime coverage instead inflicts more wounds on the victims making it harder for them to surpass their ordeal (Gerbner et al., pg. 175).
Media coverage has its merits and demerits and therefore the industry ought to work towards reducing the adverse effects it impacts on the public and upholds the benefits. This is possible through government policing and regulation of content that is appropriate for public consumption.
References
- Fleras, Augie. The media gaze: Representations of diversities in Canada. UBC Press, 2011.
- Hickey, Eric W. Serial murderers and their victims. Cengage Learning, 2013.
- Gebotys, Robert J., Julian V. Roberts, and Bikram Dasgupta. ‘News media use and public perceptions of crime seriousness.’ Canadian J. Criminology 30 (1988): 3.
- Gerbner, George, and Larry Gross. ‘Living with television: The violence profile.’ Journal of Communication 26.2 (1976): 172-199.
- Landau, Tammy C. Challenging notions: Critical victimology in Canada. Canadian Scholars’ Press, 2014.
- McBride, Jessica. ‘Covering Crime: How the Media Covers Violence.’ Wisconsin Interest 14.1 (2005): 31-37. Retrieved from http://www.wpri.org/WIInterest/McB14.1.pdf
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