NCJ Number
138701
Journal
Police Journal Volume: 65 Issue: 3 Dated: (July-September 1992) Pages: 209- 212
Date Published
1992
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article examines public perceptions of the police fostered in British media and media effects in the context of Sir Peter Imbert's ("Television Violence -- Areas of Responsibility," 1992) own perceptions of these issues and their relationship to television images of policing.
Abstract
This article notes that Imbert's article largely ignores violence on television and focuses on public perceptions of the police fostered by television. In his analysis of the impact of television on public perceptions of the police, Imbert holds to the widely held belief that message equals effect, such that the viewer has little role in the interpretation, assessment, and application of the message. Imbert offers no evidence of the effect of television images on audience perceptions of reality. It is most likely that media messages are perceived differently by different people, and different publics and their responses to those messages are correspondingly different. Audiences selectively perceive messages. Sometimes these messages reinforce perceptions, sometimes change, sometimes inform, sometimes have no effect whatsoever; and although media messages can be inaccurate, this is not evidence per se that this results in specific effects. It is unreasonable to demand that television create accurate images of policing, as Imbert seems to suggest, since its primary aim is to present entertaining drama. What is significant is whether or not most viewers develop a positive image of the police and experience a reinforcement of positive behaviors. 5-item bibliography