NCJ Number
100926
Date Published
1984
Length
11 pages
Annotation
The British police and media should increase cooperation to enhance crime solving and public protection, but journalists should maintain an adversarial posture toward the police to ensure full and objective reporting on police work.
Abstract
The police generally perceive journalists as enemies of effective police work due to the media's tendency to sensationalize crime, upbraid the police when crime is not checked, and report information damaging to investigations. In an effort to manage police and crime news, the police have centralized information giving in a press officer, whose general policy is to provide information which the police deem important in soliciting public support for police efforts. Journalists, on the other hand, desire to go beyond managed news and obtain all the information possible on a case investigation. This adversarial relationship should be maintained to foster both responsible policing and responsible journalism. Cooperation between the police and journalists, however, should be encouraged to obtain citizens' input for ongoing investigations and guide citizens in crime prevention measures. There should be a more serious dialog between the media and the police, if only to create a better understanding of each other's functions and goals. This paper includes an excerpt from a police report on media relations during the Yorkshire murders (1975-80), including policy recommendations for police-press dealings.