AC1.4 Describe media representation of crime
Newpapers: Newspapers provide a lot of coverage of crimes. They have
dramatic and snappy headlines and images to draw in readers and
exaggerate the violence involved in the crimes. Newpapers often report
nonfiction incidents that are likely to attract their readers. This helps to
encourage the audience to report crimes more. Broadsheet newspapers
often focus on crimes with high interests to expand their audience, this
means they only share the crimes with high prioritisation and not low
prioritisation. Newspapers also tend to overexaggerate the success of the
police.
TV: TV often presents both the fictional and non-fictional aspects of crime.
Normally, the police are portrayed as successful whereas the criminals are
portrayed as deviant. For example, in ‘Police Interceptors’, which shows
nonfiction crime, the police are seen to be very successful however they
aren’t as successful as portrayed. The criminals on the other hand are
presented as deviant on TV as well as in real life. Moreso, another TV show
which presents crime is ‘Top Boy’, this shows fictional crime. In Top Boy, the
criminals are the focus of the show and the crimes which are highlighted are
gang violence and drug abuse. Crime is accurately portrayed in this TV show
because it shows the gory and violent side of the criminals rather than just
focusing on the police and how they deal with crime.
Electronic gaming: Many games minimise the importance of crimes and they
are often a very frequent thing which occurs in the game. For example, in
grand theft auto, crime is a reoccurring theme throughout this game and is
an important thing for the game. This game highlights the success of the
criminals and glamourises crime as a whole. This can be bad for children who
play games like this because they could be influenced to behave immorally
just because they are seeing it happen in a game. The police are portrayed
as very unsuccessful in this game as the criminals always get away with the
crimes they commit, which creates a negative view of the police system.
Films: Many films glamourise crime. Many films will use violence within their
crimes and most of the time this will not be followed by punishment. The
movie ‘Se7en’ focuses on the police investigation about the murders
committed whilst sharing gruesome scenes. The police and the detectives in
this film are presented as very successful because although the offender
committed a lot of very complex crimes, he was found out in the end and the
detectives stopped his actions. Whereas in ‘The Devil All The Time’, crime is
a very reoccurring theme throughout, and the film can be very disturbing to
viewers due to its gruesome content. This film very accurately portrays the
realistic aspect of violent crime.
Newpapers: Newspapers provide a lot of coverage of crimes. They have
dramatic and snappy headlines and images to draw in readers and
exaggerate the violence involved in the crimes. Newpapers often report
nonfiction incidents that are likely to attract their readers. This helps to
encourage the audience to report crimes more. Broadsheet newspapers
often focus on crimes with high interests to expand their audience, this
means they only share the crimes with high prioritisation and not low
prioritisation. Newspapers also tend to overexaggerate the success of the
police.
TV: TV often presents both the fictional and non-fictional aspects of crime.
Normally, the police are portrayed as successful whereas the criminals are
portrayed as deviant. For example, in ‘Police Interceptors’, which shows
nonfiction crime, the police are seen to be very successful however they
aren’t as successful as portrayed. The criminals on the other hand are
presented as deviant on TV as well as in real life. Moreso, another TV show
which presents crime is ‘Top Boy’, this shows fictional crime. In Top Boy, the
criminals are the focus of the show and the crimes which are highlighted are
gang violence and drug abuse. Crime is accurately portrayed in this TV show
because it shows the gory and violent side of the criminals rather than just
focusing on the police and how they deal with crime.
Electronic gaming: Many games minimise the importance of crimes and they
are often a very frequent thing which occurs in the game. For example, in
grand theft auto, crime is a reoccurring theme throughout this game and is
an important thing for the game. This game highlights the success of the
criminals and glamourises crime as a whole. This can be bad for children who
play games like this because they could be influenced to behave immorally
just because they are seeing it happen in a game. The police are portrayed
as very unsuccessful in this game as the criminals always get away with the
crimes they commit, which creates a negative view of the police system.
Films: Many films glamourise crime. Many films will use violence within their
crimes and most of the time this will not be followed by punishment. The
movie ‘Se7en’ focuses on the police investigation about the murders
committed whilst sharing gruesome scenes. The police and the detectives in
this film are presented as very successful because although the offender
committed a lot of very complex crimes, he was found out in the end and the
detectives stopped his actions. Whereas in ‘The Devil All The Time’, crime is
a very reoccurring theme throughout, and the film can be very disturbing to
viewers due to its gruesome content. This film very accurately portrays the
realistic aspect of violent crime.
