Media and crime Assignment 4

The assignment Three to four page fact sheet Evaluates the role of the media in public perceptions of the crime problem This will be done through the process of analysing the presentation of the 2011 London riots in both newspapers and on television

Key terms to use in the assignment Moral panics Folk devils Sensationalism Deviancy amplification Scaremongering

Context http://media.ofcom.org.uk/facts/ Consider the following figures: What do they suggest about our reliance on media? Is there a downside to this?

Context con’d Where did you first learn about the course you are on? Did you ‘google’ access courses? Consider- how are you keeping up to date with the elections? We rely heavily on the media to ‘feed’ us with the status quo of society, including threats to our country..

Background information Stanley Cohen Folk devils and moral panics (1972) Key term: Deviancy amplification Cohen studied the fights between two groups in 1964 Mods and rockers

The groups Mods Distinguished by their love for parkas, soul music, and scooters Rockers The original ‘bikers’, wore leather and listened to rock music

What happened in 1964 Location: Clacton During Easter Sunday Spasmodic and isolated incidents of fighting broke out Fights were not serious or note worthy 24 people got arrested The majority of the two groups labelled it as ‘banter’

However Hated each other Due to the lack of other ‘hard news’ Had gone to Clacton to deliberately cause trouble Featured articles contained interviews with both groups (why?) Due to the lack of other ‘hard news’ The media sensationalised the story The points made: Clear groups Cohen (1972) yet before the media coverage there was a division between the group, but it was weak and not really important as you could switch from one group to the other

After the press the British youth polarised sharply into two groups

The media then predicted more blood and violence at the Whitsun Bank holiday in ‘targeted towns’ What actually happened Mods and rockers turned up in large numbers A few spats but mostly people didn’t know what they should be doing… What the media said happened…

This sensationalism went on to influence the police and courts: Police reinforced to deal with the ‘devils, resulting in more people being arrested, not because there was more trouble but because police was more likely then usual to arrest youths that fit the stereotype portrayed in the media Magistrates: heavier penalties then normal to combat crime wave… ’

According to Cohen.. Process by which the media actually created crime through the exaggeration and distortion. Deviancy amplification describes the process: The distortion of events and the labelling by the media of a group of youths as troublemakers (folk devils), created the stereotyped image held by police officers and the public which led them to respond forcibly against the perceived threat to law and order (moral panic) (Cohen 1972, in Moore 2004)

The theory explained

Hence the media Concentrates on: Crime: takes up to 64.5% of media coverage (bjc.oxfordjournals) Crime that is reported is that of interest to the reporter and also what the police will divulge (Chibnall, 1977)- hence why white collar crime is not reported by media so much because police feel it is not their responsibility…

Cont’d Media coverage is increased whereby the victims are: Children and the elderly Female White ethnicity People of a higher social status (Sociology review, 2001)

The perpetrators of crime Young Ethnic minority Low social class Those people already ‘outsiders’ Pearson (1983) highlights the way that each generation tends to characterise the youth of the day, and particularly specific youth groups, as problematic, anti-social, deviant and so on.

Examples to back up Cohen The Link between violent films and child violence… The film ‘Mikey’ was rejected by the BBFC for a certificate in 1996; a trailer had been previously classified 18 four years before. In the aftermath of the widely-publicised murder of James Bulger, the BBFC (on the guidance of three child psychiatrists) banned the film because it features a child as a killer (which they believed might cause children who watched it to act violently (Shewan 2011)

MMR and Autism

Homosexuality and Aids (handout)

Your task Investigate how the media portrayed the 2011 riots You need two newspapers (middle class vs lower class?) How it was portrayed on TV- (YouTube might be a good source) Apply the key terms to this task

You need to: Pick out supporting evidence in terms of: headlines- link to diffferences in the representations (tabloid, broadsheet, TV) Imagery used Comments/interviews/statements used How all of these led to deviancy amplification, scaremongering etc.

The media Crimes around violence and abuse significantly out proportion the incidence rates (Davis 1952). offenders tend to be middle aged and middle class which differs from court statistics Police tend to be viewed in a positive light News coverage shaped by courts, police and interest Despite official statistics suggesting crime is decreasing, the BCS respondents believe crime is increasing due to media attention- those who read tabloids are more likely to believe this…

Tabloid Sensationalist Playing to perceived stereotypes Using emotive language The more downmarket, the more crime content More likely to headline official negative crime trends- hence influencing readers perceptions of crime Crime reports in local newspapers or broadcasting focus more on ethnic minority and lower-status group suspects (Beckett and Sasson 2000 ). However, Readers tend to be working class and live in poorer areas – in defence tabloids could be reporting reader interest instead of shaping attitudes…

Broadsheet Broad sheet: Clear, calm reporting Truthful representation of those involved Using measured/academic language Supported with evidence Read by middle, upper classes

Television Use of images giving it an immediacy Saturation coverage, creating a feeling of panic Use of many reporting formats –which means the event can be reported in different ways- depending on political motivation maybe?

Use of imagery Task: name the crime

Why do we think these people have committed these crimes? The power of imagery provides evidence to a perception – that it is correct

Crime concentrated (Williams and Dickinson 1993). ‘On average, 12.7% of event-oriented news reports were about crime’. The proportion of space devoted to crime was greater the more ‘downmarket’ the newspaper. The smallest proportion of crime news was 5.1 per cent in the Guardian; the largest was 30.4 per cent in The Sun What effect would this have on perceptions of crime?

Lack of knowledge ‘crime stories in newspapers consist primarily of brief accounts of discrete events, with few details and little background material. There are very few attempts to discuss causes of or remedies for crime or to put the problem of crime into a larger perspective’ (Garofalo 1981: 325) Again, what are the consequences of this?

London riots 2011 Timeline of events http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14436499

The BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-14434318 Protest started after the killing of Mike Duggan

What are the ‘folk devils’ in the London riots? criminals – how they are perceived Uneducated/ unemployed (Welfare- link to next slide) Young (White & Cuneen 2006) Minority groups Past Criminal offences Immoral/ monstrous? Present evidence to back this up- for example…

Deviancy amplification Amplified by: Sensationalist stories Creating fear and moral panics For example: “I predict a rioter”- The Sun What effects will this have? Link to labelling? ‘real’ effects of police stereotyping and heavier sanctions? –vicious cycle of amplification

Task: Tabloid Look at the next 4 handouts and answer the following questions… 1. how have the newspaper scared the masses? How have the images helped this perception 2 what evidence is there of deviancy amplification? 3 why are they making folk devils of these people? What are the consequences

Other examples from tabloid papers (London Riots) Handout 1 Handout 2

Handout 3&4

Creating folk devils: quick sanctioning

Government response