Media representations of violence

The article "Violence to a T" (Ogg 1997, p. 3) is typical of the style and content of crime news reporting found in the mass media. That is, most crime news stories reported in the media misrepresent the "crime problem" by focussing only on certain types of crimes. Those crimes are usually bizarre or unusual events, such as murder or kidnapping. This focus presents the public with the image that the majority of crime involves personal violence. …

…Celebrated Crime Cases and the Public's Imagination: From Bad Press to Bad Policy?', Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, pp. 6-22. Ogg, M. 1997, ‘Violence to a T', Daily Telegraph, 14 April, p. 3. White, R. & Haines, F. 1996, Crime and Criminology: An Introduction, Oxford University Press: Melbourne. Williams, P. & Dickinson, J. 1993, ‘Fear of Crime: Read all About It? The Relationship Between Newspaper Crime Reporting and Fear of Crime', British Journal of Criminology, vol. 33, no. 1, pp. 33-56.