The Language of Crime and Deviance by Mayr Andrea. Machin David

Author:Mayr, Andrea.,Machin, David
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury UK
Published: 2011-02-27T16:00:00+00:00

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The criminal justice system in the media: the police

I

n this chapter, we focus on media images of the police in the press and on television that contribute to what Hurd (1979: 121) has called the public’s ‘half-formed picture’ of policing. The police are represented with great frequency in the mainstream media, partly due to the dramatic nature of much of their work, which has great appeal for drama and entertainment, and also due to their use value to news outlets in terms of their ability to provide a ready supply of newsworthy events. But what kind of information about the police and police work is represented? What is not represented? To what extent do the media present an accurate, coherent and fair view of what actually constitutes policing and crime detection? In this chapter, we consider the existing literature on media representations of the police and then analyse examples that include a range of newspaper reports and also Britain’s best-known television crime appeal programme, Crimewatch. In the context of some of the trends identified in the literature, we reveal that it is clear that there are a number of key discourses of policing that dominate media representations but, in support of Hurd (1979), show that these are spectacularly unconnected and may do little to contribute to public understanding of the police and crime fighting.

Media portrayals of the police

The way the criminal justice system, including the police, have dealt with offenders has always been of great interest and use to both factual and entertainment media. At the same time, the police have been concerned with how they are represented in these media and have attempted to create an image of themselves as an efficient and effective force, as this ensures public support. Image making and news management has therefore been a central concern of the police, who have professionalized their media management strategies over the years, some of which are borrowed from the corporate sphere (Schlesinger and Tumber, 1994; Mawby, 2002). Mason (2003) points out that in a media ecology in which style supersedes content, and in which personalities supplant policies and photo opportunities replace news, it is hardly surprising that the police have begun to resort to these strategies. Recent technological advances have also meant that the police have become far more accountable.

Two views exist about media images of policing, which Reiner (2007) has categorized as either ‘hegemonic’ or ‘subversive’. The first sees the police as controlling media output and promoting a favourable image of itself, whereas according to the second, the media pose a certain threat to the police because of their capacity to expose police malpractice and corruption. The police are now almost routinely filmed during demonstrations on hand-held cameras, mobile phones and blackberries by technology-savvy ‘citizen journalists’, who post photographic evidence of police behaviour on internet sites such as youTube and youTube direct, challenging ‘official’ versions given by the police. Greer and McLaughlin (2010) note that ‘citizen journalists’ increasingly challenge the role of the police as ‘primary definers’, as they become part of the news production process itself.

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