Influence of the Means of Mass Communication on Public Opinion on Matters of Criminality and Penal Justice (From Public Opinion on Crime and Criminal Justice, 13th Conference on Criminological Research, Strasbourg, P 106-133, 1978 - See NCJ-70733)

• NCJ Number: 70736
• Author(s): M H J Schneider
• Date Published: 1979
• Length: 28 pages
• Sale Source: Manhattan Publishing Co
• Language: French
• Country: France

Annotation

The extent and nature of influence exerted by mass media on public attitudes toward crime and criminal justice are investigated.

Abstract

After an introduction to the concepts and terminology, the media are described as a response to the public demand for entertainment and information. Media competitiveness encourages presentation of sensationalized images of crime and criminal justice that have no relationship to the direct experience of the audience. Despite the differences between newspapers and television, neither medium is neutral. As studies show, the media in general are a dynamic integrating factor in the social process, capable of modifying events both directly and indirectly. Direct media influence is effected by special reporting on crime and social control, by both establishment and delinquent exploitation of the media to mobilize public opinion, and by publication of criminological expert analyses of crime. The media are indirectly influential through information bulletins on crime and criminal justice, through entertainment programs on police work or the justice system, and through educational programs combining information and entertainment. Television programs, one of the most influential media forms, either reinforce middle-class opinions of the prime-time audience or are be tailored to a specific group of viewers. The former programs tend to reproduce stereotypes, while the latter often portray scientific facts realistically. The media can distort information by initially omitting reports, by supplying so much information that the facts cannot be sorted out, or by basing programs on false or incomplete information. The various types of media all contribute to encouraging criminal behavior, heightening fear of crime while catering to a taste for sensationalism and police entertainment, reinforcing prejudices against delinquents, and criticizing the criminal justice system insufficiently or to excess. Arousal of fear by the media may also lead to hasty, overspecialized legislation. In the extreme, the media may become agents of power. Avoidance of a black-white contrast between delinquents and law enforcement agencies is recommended. A bibliography of approxiimately 80 entries is appended.--in French.