NCJ Number
151861
Date Published
1994
Length
294 pages
Annotation
This volume examines how the mass media in Great Britain report crime, with emphasis not only on the practices of journalists, editors, and television producers but also the strategies of government agencies, the police and probation services, and interest groups.
Abstract
Through interviews with journalists, editors and members of advocacy groups and through case studies, the authors present a multifaceted analysis of how crime news is interpreted and presented. This discussion focuses on how policymakers, criminal justice professionals, pressure groups, and the police compete in self-promoting struggles to shape their own images and the policy agenda. The case studies raise issues such as whether the coverage of crime statistics promotes the fear of crime, whether the focus on fear of crime has overlooked fear of authority, whether the coverage of sex offenses encourages voyeurism, and whether increasing television coverage of real crime is intended more for entertainment than for aiding police investigations. Notes, index, and appended lists of sources