Media coverage of crime is always accurate.

The view of Media representing crime as an accurate one is not entirely true, since the dawn of time people have wanted to learn about what’s going on around them, within their streets and communities as well as further afield nationally and internationally, crime in particular in all its guises is probably the most fascinating and main topic for discussion and exploration by the general public, the Media institutions are only too happy to help out in this reporting , of course with a financial cost to the public, but not necessarily with reporting truths or with integrity, within this essay I will demonstrate instances of inaccuracy through the research. There are many on-going debates into Mass Medias influences on crime and violent crime in particular, but is this a true reflection of the current culture crisis or a fabrication to sell copy, taking for instance the Murder case of James Bulger in 1993, after the then 10year old boys Robert Thompson and Jon Venable led 2year old James away from a shopping centre in Liverpool to a brutal /senseless and pointless murder the Media was instantly ‘all over’ the case , even though a murder of children by children was extremely rare the reporting of and style of reporting throughout the case was reflecting to the public all that was now wrong in Britain, The Sun instantly called for ‘a crusade to rescue a sick society’, a ‘breed’ of violent children , single mother parenting , and dysfunctional underclass families where being painted as those whom would bare these types of violent monsters creating one of the most widely advertised Moral panics of the 20th Century (Cohen, 2002).
Television and video games where two other forms of education for these child killers with many media organisations reporting that video nasty’s where the influence to the brutal murder of James Bulger after a throw away remark by the trial judge – ‘ I suspect that exposure to violent video films may in part be an explanation’ ,this quickly became a factoid that one of the accused had watched the movie Childs play3 ( a horror movie where a child kills a demonic doll )The Sun newspaper started a ‘witch-hunt’ campaign on the movie and recorded public burnings of the video creating a Moral panic within society and having parents look differently at their own children let alone others around them, questioning what if ?

It wasn’t until 4 months later a senior investigating police officer in the case released the evidence that after extensive research and enquiry , no one in either Thompson or Venables family had either watched or even rented a copy of the Childs Play movies , showcasing the Medias interpretation and coverage of a non-fact and moulding coverage of crime to their own advantages , maybe as misguided loyalty to the public but it could be argued they were just trying to sell more copy and increase their capitalist wealth , prestige and power.
The academic world has often struggled with the concepts and nature of the mass media and its psychological, sociological and criminological implications of its presence and influence, accumulating in four main areas of questioning: 1. Whether the mass media especially television through depictions of crime, violence, death and aggression, can be proven to be a major cause or important contributory factor of criminal or deviant behaviour. 2. Whether the mass media particularly the press, construct and present our social world in ways that distort reality, and unjustly stereotype particular groups or individuals, labelling them as ‘outsiders’, eliminating their credibility, and in the process exploiting and furthering their own privileged access to powerful state institutions. 3. Whether the mass media engender ‘moral panics’ and cause people to be fearful by over-reporting criminal and violent events and looking primarily for sensation above accuracy. 4. Whether ‘real’ crime and fictional crime impact on the viewer in the same manner, particularly in the electronic media (Kidd-Hewitt, 1995).
A virtually universal finding in the literature is that media representations exaggerate both the levels of serious interpersonal crime in society and the risk of becoming a crime victim. This is the case for studies of newspapers, television and radio content across both news and entertainment media and literary crime fiction. The representation of crime is largely event orientated in that it focuses on specific criminal cases and incidents rather than wider debates around causes, prevention, or policy. All media forms focus overwhelmingly on violent or sexual offences (Greer, 2009).

When we see the words Media representation of crime we almost always link them with a modern day scenario in the newspapers or on the Television news channels but we should also look at the influences of stage and screen on the public’s perception and reporting of crime , dating back to works by authors such as Shakespeare , Marlowe and James the public have wanted to be entertained by and where intrigued by tales of violence and horror ,even family favourites like Charles dickens wrote in his story ‘The uncommercial traveller’ about a man who makes his wives into meat pies and Henry James appreciated the appeal of the sensational , In his supernatural chiller ‘The Turn of the Screw’ when a group are swapping spooky stories by a fireplace one announces that he knows a tale to top all others for sheer ‘ugliness, horror and pain’ his listeners can’t wait to hear it with one of the ladies crying out ‘Oh, how delicious!’ summing up how so much pleasure would be gained by so nasty a diversion (Schechter, 2005). So do we as the general public buy in to the Medias representation of crime there by allowing them to report in a way that they know will grab our attention?, Some of these literary works I have commented on may seem to be just in the realms of imagination by very articulate authors but they bare similarity to more recent factual news stories, In August 2011, Russian police said a murderous chef, identified only as Ivan L., had admitted to making meatballs and sausages from his victims' corpses, The chef was accused of luring victims to his apartment through a gay-dating website, then killing them with a butcher's knife. He also reportedly filmed his culinary adventures and posted them on the internet, and another headline grabbing story from the Japanese Media, in a possible nod to Hannibal Lecter, Mao Sugiyama, a self-described asexual, served his recently severed genitals to a group of five diners at a fancy banquet in Japan last month. Sugiyama underwent genital-removal surgery because he doesn't identify with either gender, and went on Twitter to advertise that the remains were for sale. He served his genitals, topped with button mushrooms and parsley, for $250 a plate (Mail Online , 2012).

A less gruesome case in point but extremely significant to consider when reviewing the question ‘Media coverage is always accurate’ is that of the Hillsborough disaster ,on the 15TH April 1989 during an FA cup final match between Liverpool and Nottingham forest at the Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield an already inadequate stadium was overwhelmed by sheer numbers of supporters and as a direct result 96 people were killed (94 on the day) and 766 injuries by crush related incidents, at the time of the tragedy media organisations including newspapers and TV company’s where quick to point the finger of blame , the blame was aimed at the supporters themselves going as far as alleging that fans where fighting and stopping the police from taking control of the situation when in fact supporters from the Leppings lane area where already overcrowded and when police ordered the opening of exit gates the mass of bodies compressed into pen like areas not fit for purpose and causing almost instant crush related death and injury, what ensued was a mass cover up by the authorities and at the time fully backed in print by various newspapers who went as far as delving into victims backgrounds to try and ‘expose’ potential trouble makers and focus on blame , The official inquiry into the disaster, the Taylor Report in 1990, concluded that "the main reason for the disaster was the failure of police control" (Taylor, 1989). The report's findings resulted in the elimination of standing terraces at all major football stadiums in England, Wales and Scotland.
On the 20th anniversary of the disaster, government minister Andy Burnham called for the police, ambulance, and all other public bodies to release documents which had not been made available to Taylor in 1989 (Conn, 2009). This led to the formation of the Hillsborough Independent Panel, which, in September 2012, concluded that no Liverpool fans were responsible for the deaths, and that attempts had been made by the authorities to conceal what had happened, including the amendment of 164 statements relating to the disaster by the police.

The report prompted immediate apologies from Prime Minister David Cameron, the Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police David Crompton, Football Association Chairman David Bernstein and Kelvin Mackenzie, then-editor of The Sun, for their organisations' respective roles (BBC2012). here we can see by their own admission a media organisation conveying to the public that they don’t in fact report truths all the time and that they can ‘get it wrong’ in their reporting of news stories, allowing for innocents who were labelled criminals to have their names cleared but only after a long agonising 23year crusade for justice and simple truthful journalism.
In September 2012, the Hillsborough Independent Panel concluded that up to 41 of the 96 who had died might have been saved had some failings been addressed (Ansari, 2012). The report revealed "multiple failures" by other emergency services and public bodies which contributed to the death toll. In response to the panel's report, Attorney General for England and Wales, Dominic Grieve MP, confirmed he would consider all the new evidence to evaluate whether the original inquest verdicts of accidental death could be overturned (Liverpool Echo, 2012).
In conclusion as is demonstrated by numerous research studies through history on the effects on media reporting of crime it can be suggested that although the media does not always report accurately it does serve its purpose to inform the public, we can see that perhaps the reporter does convey the story accurately but by the time it goes through sub editing / editing and onto print the reporters ‘true’ account gets the sensationalism treatment , we have seen in recent months how some media institutions ‘get it wrong’ in their style of reporting on a grand scale and have their methods scrutinised by enquiry boards , we have seen News Papers production ceased and the name removed and those in the editorial ranks and management be let go from their posts, what seems to be an outstanding point is people are hungry for news and continue to buy in to the media hype , with the advent of home internet in the 1990’s and onward we have an instant source of gratification and with digital camera and mobile phone technology leading us all to perhaps become our own reporter and media supplier an accurate and truthful un-edited view of crime can come to the fore.

Liverpool Echo. (2012, September 20th). Retrieved October 22nd, 2012, from www.liverpoolecho.co.uk: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/2012/09/12/attorney-general-to-consider-overturning-hillsborough-inquest-verdicts-100252-31823481/
Mail Online . (2012, October Sunday 21st). Retrieved October Sunday 21st, 2012, from Mail Online: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2031806/Cannibal-21-confesses-making-meatballs-victim-posting-video-clips-cooking-online.html www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19570810. (2012, September 12th). Retrieved October 21st, 2012, from www.bbc.co.uk: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19570810
Ansari, A. (2012, September 12th). Hillsborough papers:Cameron apology over double injustice. Retrieved October 22nd, 2012, from www.bbc.co.uk: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-19543964
Cohen, S. (2002). Folk Devils and Moral Panics. Oxon: Routledge.
Conn, D. (2009, April 17th). David Conn on Hillsborough. The Gaurdian.
Greer, C. (2009). Crime and media: understanding connections. In C. H. Hale, Criminology 2nd edition (pp. 177-200). Oxford: Oxford University press.
Kidd-Hewitt, D. (1995). Crime and the Media. London: Pluto Press.
Schechter, H. (2005). Savage Pastimes: A Cultural History of Violent Entertainment. New York: St Martins press.
Taylor, L. J. (1989). "Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Inquiry – Interim Report" . Home Office Hillsborough Disater Interim Report.

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