Discussion 02
How would each of the theoretical perspectives in Chapter 1 view the production of crime news? How has news values changed over the last 50 years?
Be sure to read the posts of your classmates and reply to at least two of them.
(For full credit, you are required to complete the initial discussion questions with at minimum 350 words and one citation and reference in APA format. You are required to respond to at least two classmates with a minimum of 150 words. Content will be graded.)
Below are my classmates responses for reference and so that you can formulate two responses for them.
1) “In Chapter 1, there were many different theoretical perspectives that viewed the production of crime news with varying understandings. Each of these different theoretical perspectives dominated the majority of media research over the last fifty or so years at different points during that time period. These theories/ideologies are Mass Society Theory, Behaviorism, Hypodermic Syringe Model, Strain Theory, Marxism, Critical Criminology, Pluralism, Reception Analysis, and Cultural Criminology.
Mass Society Theory would view that crime news is produced by the media in a way that is meant to control a generalized audience to ensure that the population does not become overly aggressive. Crime news under this theory would be viewed as being constructed rather than objectively reported. Behaviorism came from the ideas of Positivism. Behaviorism would view that crime news is produced to elicit a given effect/action from the public. Thus, the production of crime news in this theory would be seen as a tool of the media to get the population to engage in certain activities over others. Next, the Hypodermic Syringe Model would view the production of crime news as a way for the media to establish certain thoughts, values, and ideas into the minds of the public (Jewkes, 2018, p. 17). This view shows how the media holds a level of control over what the public believes via their crime news.
The Strain Theory views that production of crime news by the media would be seen as a direct cause to strain that can exist in society. Specifically, the media can overly endorse certain goals and wants for people to have that are often unobtainable by a large number of people. Thus, it could be seen that the media through its stories can cause crime to occur by instilling lusts in people that cannot be achieved without criminal actions. Marxism would view that crime news is a tool of the capitalist system of government and economics that is shown through the media. It is used by the upper classes to keep the world as they want it; it shows certain ideas and occurrences over others to ensure their tool is used properly. Critical Criminology would view that the production of crime news is a method that the media employs to determine what is considered criminal/deviant and what isn’t. The media defines what is socially acceptable and unacceptable with its focus on certain crime news over other crime news.
Pluralism began to gain traction during the 1980s and the 1990s. It was one of the first theories that started viewing the media and its production of crime news in a more positive lighting (Jewkes, 2018, p. 27). It would view that the production of crime news is almost free from governmental/ideological bias. The production of crime news is more choice-based by the various media outlets; the outlets can choose what to stories to show or not show. This is done in order to gain profit; the media outlets choose what to show/print by assessing what will allow them to gain more profit and audience consumption. In conjunction with that fact, the population is also free to choose between the various media outlets and what those outlets are producing. In this view, no one media outlet has the sole control over the population in any meaningful way. Reception Analysis’ findings and ideals would show that crime news is produced by the media in order to provide resources for the public. Individuals in the public can then thoughtfully select what crime news/media outlet they want to view. Finally, Cultural Criminology would view that the production of crime news by the media is a way to provide entertainment and elicit certain emotional responses from the public. This is due to the fact that this line of thinking is focused on how people are overly enamored by violence and criminal activity as well as how the engagement in those activities can provide pleasure in the people involved (Jewkes, 2018, p. 33).
Overall, it seems that the values over the news have changed drastically over the past fifty years and beyond. Initially, the news was sometimes seen as a tool of the government and a medium of the media to control the thoughts, ideas, and actions of the population. Later, the news was viewed as a tool to keep certain interest prevalent in the population to ensure that the elite always get their way. More recently, the news has been viewed as more choice-based with increased elements of freedom by both the producers and the consumers. Additionally, the standing, present belief among many scholars is that there is no one explanation to describe why the crime news is produced in the way that it is and the effects of the consumption of that crime news by the population.
Reference:
Jewkes, Y., & Linnemann, T. (2018). Media & Crime In The U.S. London: Sage.”
2) “According to the textbook, mass society theory characterizes individuals by their lack of individuality. Under this theory, media is seen as a tool to assist people in certain circumstances as well as control individuals’ actions. For example, if the press stresses heavily on how bad voting is, the result would be that individuals stopped voting because the media said how bad it is. Behaviorism and Positivism view the world as fixed, and their environment shaped individuals’ behaviors. In terms of crime news, if media outlets presented these crimes and normal and okay, then individuals would pick up on the idea that it is okay to commit a crime. The textbook also notes that Strain theory and anomie places a strong emphasis on a goal but gives the audience no means on how to achieve that goal. In the reporting of crime news, it can be seen with crimes involving weapons. The media describes how bad weapons are, but give no means of making them safe or explaining how to be safe with one. According to the dominant ideology, the power to criminalize an event or person belongs to the ruling elite. Concerning crime media, the power belongs to those in charge of the network and those reporting the news. If he or she uses specific imagery and connotations, he or she can create a negative correlation to an event (Jewkes & Linnemann, 2018).
In the last fifty years, I believe there has been a change in news values. I think in the 1960s and 1970s, individuals focused on who was sharing the content and if it was manufactured to misrepresent an idea. Through this, an individual had their thoughts and opinions. In the present day, I feel that the media uses a variety of theories to control the narrative, portray specific values, and control viewers’ behavior. For example, if there is a mass shooting. The news will report mass shooting facts: like the death toll, how many guns are used and express the stories of the victims. Individuals then see this and make a correlation between the event and weapons. The news reporters will then spew that guns are harmful and dangerous to the public. Individuals then are surrounded by social media who obtained this idea from the news and made it their view. The report does not share important facts about the shooter, like if they were in poor mental health or if he or she obtained the weapon illegally. Or even talk about the positives of owning a gun, just the adverse events. If only one person changes their opinion or gains the view, the media is sharing. Then they have successfully portrayed their values and controlled viewers’ behavior.
Reference:
Jewkes, Y., & Linnemann, T. (2018). Media and crime in the U.S. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.”