The Role of Public Opinion and the Mass Media
The mass media is one of the primary sources of information available to society. Public opinion, in turn, matters because people do not interact with each other and ultimately it leads to social isolation. Therefore, society ends up relying on media updates and not on the factual data obtained from other people. Similarly, it means that society does not perceive all the dangers of miscommunication (Marion & Oliver, 2012). If the government fails to contact the citizens, the latter will look for the news in the mass media which usually exaggerates the outcomes but does not propose solutions to the problems. The current point of view at the crimes and violence is predestined by the commercial pressure applied to the mass media sources. Ultimately, this leads to the transformation of public opinion and major criminal justice policies. In other words, the mass media takes into account marketing and economic objectives that overrule the usual journalistic principles instead of mirroring the news.
The Role of Newspapers and Television
The role of newspapers and television can be described as an exaggeration of news reports and real dimensions of the problems. As a result, this majorly impacts public order and safety. In the majority of the cases, popular media becomes the viral source of information which forms the public opinion (Griffin, Woodward, & Sloan, 2016). Sometimes, the crucial sources of information are used to influence public opinion to implicitly affect certain political outcomes.
Newspapers and television are used to criminal sensations because this kind of information usually boosts ratings. For these companies, the higher goes the rating, the higher go the profits. It is a well-known fact that violence rates have grown significantly since the appearance of the contemporary mass media business. Public anxieties are intensified through newspapers, television, and social media. The key problem is that the reports commonly focus on the personal interpretation of the reported crimes and not on the expert commentary and factual data. This tendency is also present in the political sphere as numerous politicians prefer yellow press to quality sources.
The Roles of Various Interest Groups
Special interest groups may seriously impact the development of public policies. It is safe to say that a great number of professional associations are no strangers to spending money on the operations intended to transform public opinion. The majority of lobbyists who are directly related to the development of new legislations are closely acquainted with policymakers and government representatives (Gaines, 2014). Even though special interest groups claim that their key objective is affluence of the population, they are most interested in greater revenues and tend to disregard the initial propositions when their goal is accomplished. The negative impact of interest groups can be described as thriving political and administrative corruption and social influence.
The Characteristics of Interest Groups in the Formulation of Criminal Justice Policies
There are several characteristics of interest groups that impact the way they are perceived. First, the outcomes of the creation of an interest group rely on the goals of the group and the perspectives of offered incentives. Second, the impact of interest groups on the formation of criminal justice policies is influenced by the roles of the members in the decision-making process (Tanenhaus & Zimring, 2014). This means that the level of impact is dependent on the status of a member of the special group. The last characteristic is the degree of bureaucracy. This factor influences the creation and employment of administrative strategies.
References
Gaines, L. K. (2014). Homeland security: A new criminal justice mandate. In S. L. Mallicoat & C. L. Gardiner (Eds.), Criminal justice policy (pp. 67-87). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Griffin, O., Woodward, V. H., & Sloan, J. J. (2016). The money and politics of criminal justice policy. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press.
Marion, N. E., & Oliver, W. M. (2012). The public policy of crime and criminal justice (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Tanenhaus, D. S., & Zimring, F. E. (2014). Choosing the future for American juvenile justice. New York, NY: New York University Press.