Introduction
The telecommunication industry is objectively over-populated with the depiction of crime. Viewers continuously see violent actions on the news, on TV shows, films. Some media coverage provides a misleading picture of real-life crime experiences in the city, as well as in movies. Moreover, specific populations are more or less represented or depicted in certain ways, which is often false or exaggerated. Due to the above-stated and other reasons, unreliable reports can fuel discrimination against certain groups or lead to the implementation of stringent crime-fighting measures. Therefore, the following report will review and objectively assess how criminality is represented on television based on critical research.
Media’s Role in Shaping Public Ideas of Crime
The portrayal of crime, deviance, and disorder in the media has long been a source of concern. The public’s views and comprehension of crime are heavily influenced by television, the internet, and print media, which can spread the message about the exaggerated danger to society. Such sensationalist media coverage leads to moral hysteria or indignation aimed at specific groups, such as young people or ethnic minorities (Hollis et al., 2017). As a result, people can picture themselves as potential victims in such situations. Media outlets rarely examine the root causes of crime, such as socioeconomic factors, and often use the information to instill fear in the public.
Depiction of crime on news outlets is often associated with a manipulation tool, which infuses a sense of danger to society. Indeed, the studies confirm that watching local television news raises people’s expectations of danger and fear of crime and that watching crime dramas has a greater impact than watching crime-related reality shows (Hollis et al., 2017). Hence, it is essential to emphasize that the media is the source of exaggerated public concern about law and order, as well as manipulative content that can sway cultural, political, and social views.
Crime-Based Media Influence on Crime, Race, And Fear Of Crime.
Regardless of why people consume media, it can shape public perceptions of crime, race, and fear of crime, as well as how people feel about themselves, others, and the environment. Cultural criminologists examine and analyze media portrayals of crime, seeing crime and law as cultural structures that must be grasped for their more profound symbolic significance within societies (Henry, 2018). According to research, the media negatively impacts society’s views of police officers’ violent interactions with individuals, which raises the question of racial profiling (Hatter, 2020).
Cultivation Theory
Cultivation theory has been continuously updated and extended to keep up with technological advances. The approach, which George Gerbner established in the 1960s and 1970s, has been challenged with each new media technological advancement (Mosharafa, 2015). Cultivation theory follows the idea that media consumption distorts society’s beliefs due to the difference between what is perceived and relative and actual (Intravia, 2019). Thus, the theory proposes that television viewing is a factor in society’s interpretation of various feelings towards themselves and others.
In this particular report, cultivation theory predicts how television distorts the perception of crime by the viewers and to which extent it is relevant. According to the idea, television’s danger lies in its ability to influence people’s moral principles and general views about the universe rather than a single point of view on a specific problem (Hatter, 2020). Therefore, it was vital to determine how news reports on crime, films, and TV shows influence human perception and manipulate their attitudes towards criminals.
Since TV dramas, films, and shows, as well as news, can have a more significant cultural influence than serious courses, research, and classes, it’s essential to map out how various aspects of criminology are portrayed in the media and cinematography. Numerous cultivation theory researchers believe that entertainment content is often used to understand people’s environment and everything beyond their immediate experience, assisting them in normalizing society and determining how they can behave and communicate with others (Mosharafa, 2015). As a result, cultivation theory may lead to a preconceived idea about crime, race, and fear of crime.
Racial Profiling in Crime Television
The representation of African-American people in crime movies is often associated with the most dangerous and violent criminals. A large body of visual stereotyping research demonstrates a link between blacks and negative issues, including violent crime, drugs, poverty,
prisons, drug-addicted babies, and AIDS (Mortensen et al., 2019). It is self-evident that depictions of African-Americans as offenders on television news shows and in movies perpetuate false perceptions about black people. According to researchers, white people automatically equate violent crime with black people and other minorities when they see it on television news and in movies (Selepak and Cain, 2015). Such perception leads to false cultural stereotypes and a division of society, increasing racism.
Frequently, crime films deceive their audiences by omitting or purposefully changing factual information based on racial or cultural viewpoints. “Mississippi Burning” and “September Dawn” stand out as the films that take the most liberties, closely followed by “Amistad” and “Oliver and Marion” (Zeppa, 2014). Both of these films use fictitious characters and demonstrate the lack of historical figures, false sequencing, and whitewashing. The fixation on white characters as saviors of black characters in both Amistad and Mississippi Burning is proof of whitewashing to assuage the guilt felt by white moviegoers (Zeppa, 2014). Thus, the representation of specific criminals, events, and cultural appropriation are significantly distorted in many films.
“September Dawn” is one example in the list of inaccuracies, the most ludicrous of which is the inclusion of a love story between two fictional characters. The emphasis was moved away from the atrocity of the Mountain Meadows Massacre as a result of this addition (Zeppa, 2014). It’s essential to recognize the importance of pursuing justice across all racial, political, and governmental lines (Hatter, 2020). As a result, it’s crucial to evaluate media portrayals of what’s true and what’s not.
Furthermore, many movies and shows infuse a feeling of constant unsafety to the viewers. In one case, shows like “CSI” and “Criminal Minds” did not restrict the depiction of those who were injured to civilians and the general population. Many episodes of both series featured the main cast or their families being attacked by criminals. Such depictions have the power to illustrate and teach the viewer that no one is protected from a deliberate criminal’s intentions (Nightingale, 2017). Similar to films, reality TV is frequently distorting reality to match the audience’s preferences to elevate the viewership.
The reality genre tries to portray reality while still reflecting the audience’s perception of social reality. Police dramas, as a subgenre, are meant to convey a sense of realism, and their portrayal has grown in recent years, becoming more graphic and horrific while remaining one of the most popular fictional television genres (Selepak and Cain, 2015). Instead of depicting a society in which crime has declined, police dramas dramatize victimization and overstate the amount of violent crime while underrepresenting nonviolent crime (Hollis et al., 2017). Among such reality police dramas is Law and Order – Television shows based on police procedurals and legal dramas in the United States.
“Law & Order” portrays a city in which whites, who make up about two-fifths of the population, commit up to 79 percent of all violent crimes (Hollis et al., 2017). In effect, Law & Order misrepresents white criminality, which may lead to a distorted view of New York City and violence in general. What’s more critical is that the portrayals of race and crime in “Law & Order” in New York do not correspond to actual crime figures, thereby deceiving audiences of what is meant to be a realistic police procedural.
Crime Scene Investigation Effect
In 2000, CBS premiered a crime drama starring a team of detectives who used cutting-edge forensic science to solve a series of complicated crimes. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation aired for 15 seasons and spawned three spin-offs, a book series, computer games, and even museum exhibits (Khanna and Resnik, 2021). The show’s enduring success, on the other hand, has been blamed for having a questionable effect on real-life criminal trials. The “CSI effect,” as it is called, is the notion that television shows like CSI have instilled in jurors the belief that highly scientific, science-based, forensic evidence is the only reliable evidence (Hatter, 2020). Such theory questions the portrayal of crime in the media.
Many scholars have noticed that shows like “CSI,” “NCIS,” and “Without a Trace” depict scenes in which forensic evidence is gathered, analyzed, and matched to a suspect in minutes; as a result, an audience of prospective jurors is influenced by this portrayal (Nightingale, 2017). In real life, the CSI effect leads some jurors to suspect, if not require, a more complicated set of evidence such as DNA scans, fingerprint analysis, and electronic forensics. These prosecutors are almost likely to believe such evidence more than any other non-digital one (Khanna and Resnik, 2021). However, in case of the absence of such information, more conventional nonscientific evidence, including witness testimony and records, can be overlooked.
The CSI Effect has been a hotly debated subject in recent years, with experts arguing whether it positively or negatively impacts juries’ decisions in criminal trials (Hatter, 2020). The CSI effect is challenging to quantify in terms of its influence on verdicts. Nonetheless, the CSI effect has long been a source of concern for both defense and prosecution lawyers (Nightingale, 2017). The CSI effect is something a trial lawyer should be aware of in both phases of trial due to the extreme prominence of high-tech forensic experiments in fictionalized representations of the criminal justice system and society’s growing dependence on technology.
Conclusion
Criminal justice is a contentious issue in both the news and the entertainment worlds. Fear of crime, racial profiling, whitewashing, and the CSI effect are all consequences of television and film portrayals of criminality. Whatever the reason for media consumption, it can affect public opinion on all of the aforementioned factors, as well as how people feel about themselves, others, and the environment. Since crime-based media is becoming more common, it has a solid potential to sway the attitudes of its viewers if it is heavily consumed, and the CSI Effect is one of the ongoing consequences.
As a result, there is a clear need for more accountability in the criminal justice system and a desire for criminal justice reform, and more positive crime-related media portrayals. It’s essential to understand the importance of seeking justice through racial, political, and governmental lines. The ultimate aim will be to promote new cultural, social, and economic structures that encourage greater equality and prosperity for all citizens, resulting in less anomie and crime. Furthermore, it is becoming increasingly important to understand how these modern means of communication affect feelings of protection, fear of crime, and other criminal perceptions.
References
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