Policing and the Media: Facts, Fictions and Factions

• NCJ Number: 199783
• Author(s): Frank Leishman; Paul Mason
• Date Published: 2003
• Length: 175 pages
• Sale Source: Willan Publishing
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Overview Text
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This book examines contemporary images of British policing and crime presented to the public by the media in both fictional (entertainment) and factual (news reporting) forms.

Abstract

The book is divided into three thematic sections entitled "Facts," "Fictions," and "Factions." The first section focuses on the "factual," as it considers various dimensions of the construction, content, and effects of media images of policing and crime. One chapter summarizes what is "known" from previous studies and commentaries on the nature of crime coverage and its consequences in terms of possible effects on behavior and the shaping of public perceptions of police efficiency and effectiveness. Another chapter extends the discussion by exploring the dynamics of "police image work" (R.C. Mawby, 2002), through which the police seek to promote positive images of themselves through media manipulation. The three chapters in the "Fiction" section pertain to the fictional representations of British policing on television. The chapters advise that representations of policing in television entertainment programs are reflections of the individuals producing them and what the public wants from them. Consequently, there is no neutral, objective representation of the police in these programs. Since the viewer generally has no personal experience that would enable him/her to assess the accuracy of the policing images presented, they tend to trust that the producers are not far off the mark in their portrayals of the police and their work. The concluding two chapters consider the blend of fiction and fact about policing in the public's mind, which the authors call "Faction." These chapters focus on the current trend in "reality" programming, in which the boundaries between information and entertainment become blurred, such that viewers receive edited versions of "reality" based on what producers and directors deem to be of entertainment and dramatic value for the consuming public. 264 references