Won't Somebody Please Think of the Children?

There’s something decidedly creepy about sitting at home at 11:30 on a Saturday night watching grown men get busted for attempting to engage in sexual liaisons with minors.

I have a reasonable excuse; I’m watching NBC Dateline’s Predator Raw: The Unseen Tapes on the CI Channel for research purposes. But what about the other members of the Australian public tuning into this program? It can’t possibly be healthy to pass on spending a Saturday night out on the town or tucked up in bed in order to watch potential sexual predators strike out.

The To Catch a Predator series has a rather straightforward format. In each episode, individuals (always adult males) who engage in sexually explicit conversation over the internet with persons they believe to be between the ages of 12 and 15 (actually members of online watchdog Perverted-Justice) are invited to a location under the pretence of engaging in sexual conduct with a ‘minor’. Once there, host Chris Hansen confronts the men and engages in conversation with them. This conversation generally involves the ‘sexual predators’ inventing increasingly elaborate excuses and justifications for their arrival at the location, all of which are calmly rebutted by Hansen as he reads aloud the internet messages sent by the males to the ‘minors’. Since episode three, when the men leave the location they are promptly arrested (on camera) by several police officers and then subjected to further interviews (this time by the police) on site (and also on camera).

This formula has led to a surprising degree of commercial success. Since premiering in November 2004, the series has featured 12 sting operations conducted throughout the United States, and has spawned a series of spin-offs, including To Catch a Con Man and To Catch a Car Thief. Additionally, when NBC cancelled the production of future episodes in December 2008, rumours started which suggested that this was due to the popularity of the show leading to increased difficulty in drawing potential sexual predators to the filming location.

(It was more likely a response to the $105 million lawsuit which alleged that To Catch a Predator was responsible for the suicide of Texas prosecutor Louis Contradt Jnr. in 2006 (Gold 2008. ‘NBC resolves lawsuit over “To Catch a Predator” suicide’))

In an attempt to explain the popularity of the series, Kohm (2009) labelled it a form of ‘mass-media humiliation’ serving to entertain the general population through producing feelings of schadenfreude. I will admit, observing dozens of men in Predator Raw fall for what seems to be a rather obvious trap did provide me with a small self esteem boost. However, I could likely receive an equal boost from watching clips of people falling over in an episode of America's Funniest Home Videos. To Catch a Predator appears to evoke a more complex array of emotions and reactions than are explored by Kohm, including fear and vulnerability.

This got me thinking:

Beyond providing a platform for schadenfreude, what is it about To Catch a Predator that attracts audience members?

Looking past the elaborate excuses, shocking behaviour and cringe-worthy moments in episodes of To Catch a Predator, a fundamental message can be discerned regarding the need to protect the innocence of the most vulnerable members of society; children. This need is contrasted with the fear and anxiety amongst the general public concerning the nature of the internet, resulting in a magnification of the perceived risk of child victimisation (Jewkes 2004, p. 47).

The rapid and widespread proliferation of the internet since the 1990s has led to several  concerns amongst the public regarding the safety of the internet and its potential use for criminal purposes (Marsh & Melville 2009, p. 154). Conventionally, these concerns have centred around the anonymity the internet affords individuals, its transcendence of space and location and the ease with which sites can be accessed (Davidson & Martellozzo 2008, p. 278). To Catch a Predator may be seen to have adopted these anxieties in order to draw correlations between the perceived unregulated and morally ambiguous nature of the internet and the apparent degradation of the innocence of children.

In the series, this occurs through a central focus on the internet as the vehicle through which the potential sex predators are able to gain access to children (Mirchell, Finkelhor & Wolak 2004, p. 2). However, the demonization of the internet is perhaps more evident on the To Catch a Predator website. Containing a series of articles predominantly written by NBC journalist Bob Sullivan, the site positions itself as an online safety kit for parents of young internet users. Parents are warned that they ‘have to be scared’ as their child’s victimisation at the hands of a sexual predator is established as the direct consequence of a failure to closely monitor internet access (Sullivan 2006. ‘Why are kids still surfing in the bedroom?’). This operates to promote the notion that it is the nature of the internet that puts children at great risk of sexual victimisation and the subsequent loss of their innocence (Cooper & Freiner 2010, p. 14).

The success of To Catch a Predator may therefore be partly contributed to its connection of two factors which the public is believed to have a limited understanding of; child sexual assault (Gallager 2009, p. 6) and the internet (Mirchell, Finkelhor & Wolak 2004, p. 2). Through this association, the series may be seen to propagate the myth that the majority of child sex offenders are strangers, rather than members of the victim’s family or community (Gallager 2009, p. 6; Marsh & Melville 2009, p. 65). This establishing of the only threat as an external force may serve a reassuring function for viewers through its preservation of the image of the safe, loving, moralistic ‘ideal family’ (Jewkes 2004, p. 57).

The disparity between the reality of child sexual assault, and that portrayed in To Catch a Predator is indicative of the primary motivation of the series; ratings. The series’ ability to obtain these ratings may be linked to its exploitation of public fears concerning the role that the internet may play in the sexual victimisation of children, evidenced by the propaganda concerning child safety proliferated on the show’s website.

It’s safe to say that I have no intention of ever watching this show again.

How do you know your show's a hit? When Youtube has hundreds of parodies of it!

(And some are actually pretty good)

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Cooper, H. A. & Freiner, S. 2010, ‘Thoughts on victimisation: If it happened to him or her, couldn’t it happen to you?, Journal of Applied Security Research, vol. 5, pp. 3-19.

Davidson, J. C. & Martellozzo. 2008, ‘Protecting vulnerable young people in cyberspace from sexual abuse: Raising awareness and responding globally’, Police Practice and Research, vol. 9, no. 4, pp. 277-289.

Gallager, B. 2009, ‘Child sexual abuse: Informed or in fear’, Criminal Justice Matters, vol. 77, pp. 6-7.

Gold, M. 2008, ‘NBC resolves lawsuit over ‘To Catch a Predator’ suicide’, Los Angeles Times, June 24, viewed on 1 June 2011, < http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2008/06/nbc-resolves-la.html>.

Jewkes, Y. 2004, Media and Crime, Sage Publications, London.

Kohm, S. 2009, ‘Naming, shaming and criminal justice: Mass-mediated humiliation as entertainment and punishment,” Crime, Media, Culture, vol. 5, pp. 188–205.

Marsh, I. & Melville, G. 2009, Crime Justice and the Media, Routledge, New York.

Mirchell, K. J., Finkelhor, D. & Wolak, J. 2004, ‘Victimisation of youth on the internet’, Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, vol. 8, pp. 1-39.

Sullivan, B. 2006, ‘Why are kids still surfing in the bedroom?’, MSNBC.com, 3 February, viewed on 30 May 2011, < http://redtape.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2006/02/03/6346125-why-are-kids-still-surfing-in-the-bedroom>.

Don't Hate the Player, Hate the Game

In her blog post ‘Grand Theft Innocence’, Mel Kheir depicts video gaming as an exceptionally violent medium with an incredible capacity to influence the behaviour of young players. According to Kheir, this role is ‘relatively ignored’ by both researchers and the mass media.

However, any examination of recent news media would reveal the falsity of this last statement. Since the late 20^th and early 21^st centuries, the identification of the excessive use of video games as a primary causal factor in relation to aggression has been a staple of news reporting. From the reporting of a 16 year old who murdered his mother after a 90 minute argument which culminated in the confiscation of his PlayStation  (The Australian 2011. ‘Philadelphia teen confesses to bludgeoning mum who took away PlayStation’), to the 18 year old who stabbed a taxi driver to death whilst allegedly trying to imitate a scene from Grand Theft Auto IV (Reed 2008. ‘Thailand bans Grand Theft Auto IV’), it would seem that video game-related violence sells.

 

Whether or not there is an actual relationship between video gaming and aggression (And such a relationship is generally not supported by the current research (Unsworth, Devilly & Ward 2007, p. 383)) the overwhelming media focus on this issue has resulted in very little consideration being given to other factors which have been more positively linked to anti-social behaviour. These include the suffering of abuse and neglect as a child, low socio-economic status and limited access to education (Bensley & Van Eenwyk 2001, p. 244). Subsequently, the attention given by the news media to the influence of violent video games may be considered to present a factually incorrect and sensationalist image of youth-perpetrated violence.

This got me thinking:

a. Can the media’s sensationalist representation of video games and violent behaviour be considered a vital component of a moral panic surrounding the issue?

AND

b. What are the motivations behind such reports in the news media?

Developed by Cohen in his 1972 work on Mods and Rockers, the term moral panic represents an ‘exaggerated reaction… to the activities of particular social groups’ (Marsh & Melville 2009, p. 40). According to Cohen (1972, p. 9 cited in Marsh & Melville 2009, p. 41), this involves the establishment of a ‘condition, episode, person or group of persons… as a threat to societal values and interests’. As the general public’s knowledge and understanding of crime and criminality is largely based on what they see or hear in the news (Marsh & Melville 2009, p. 1), it is the news media that plays the primary role in the positioning of an issue as a ‘threat’. 

This process may be identified in the news media’s representation of video games as a threat to the safety and well-being of society. By placing significant emphasis on the impact of video games whilst reporting incidents of youth-perpetrated violence, the media may be seen to have established this medium as a contributing factor to the perceived disintegration of morality in society (Jewkes 2004, p. 58). In doing so, the news media appears to have generated ‘concern, anxiety, indignation’, or a moral panic, within the general public surrounding video gaming (Cohen 1972, p. 15 cited in Marsh & Melville 2009, p. 42).

The media’s production of such a moral panic is perhaps best exemplified by the reporting of the Virginia Tech massacre of April 2007, in which 23 year old Seung-Hui Cho shot and killed 32 students and professors. While Cho’s history of mental illness was largely ignored by the news media, a significant number of news reports on the case asserted that it was Cho’s addiction to the game Counter-Strike that had precipitated his lust for murder. Interviews with anti-game activist and controversial attorney Jack Thompson were featured by most national news sources. In an interview with the highly ‘reputable’ Fox News, Thompson appealed to the empathy of readers/viewers, announcing ‘There are real people that are in the ground now because of this game. I have no doubt about it’ (Benedetti 2007. ‘Were video games to blame for massacre?’). Dr Phil, whose degree of influence over a large percentage of the American public is both astounding and frightening, also addressed the issue during an interview on Larry King Live, in which he claimed that drawing a connection between the massacre and Cho’s video-game playing is ‘commonsense’ (Benedetti 2007).

Jack Thompson on the VT Massacre and video games

If this sounds to you like a sensational response now, you will likely be further mortified at hearing that during the investigation, police concluded that Cho had little to no exposure to violent video games. No games or consoles were found in his dormitory, and his roommate claimed that he had never seen Cho playing a video game (Ferguson 2008, 25). It therefore seems resoundingly apparent that, for the news media, instigating a panic in the public surrounding violent video games overrode any obligation to report the actual facts of the case.

So why is it so vital to the news media that the massacre is seen to have been caused by an addiction to video games? According to sociologist Dr Sternheimer, it is because this is an ‘easy answer’ (Benedetti 2007); it allows people to attribute the event to a single factor, video games, rather than questioning the role of more complex factors, including structural inequalities. This may be aligned with the news value of simplification, as Chibnall (1997, p. 207) highlights the need for reporters to eliminate the ‘shades of grey that lie between the black and white’ in a story in order for it to be easily comprehended by readers/viewers.

Your garden variety gamer

Through presenting an oversimplified version of events, the news media may be able to more clearly define the moral boundaries of society. This involves the establishment of a division between ‘us’, the moral and respectable (the general public), and the ‘them’, the deviant and undesirable (video game addicts) (Marsh & Melville 2009, p. 49). The product of this may be seen to be the uniting of communities in their fear and rejection of the ‘other’.

In addition, the moral panic concerning violent video games may also provide an opportunity for politicians to appear as though they are taking real steps to reduce violent crime (Ferguson 2008, p. 32). Rather than needing to tackle a complex array of ingrained social problems, politicians are able to introduce legislation and policies focussing on the censorship and restriction of video games in order to maintain their legitimacy. In Australia, this can be identified in the draft guidelines for an R18+ video game rating which the federal government claims, if introduced, would ‘provide better guidance for parents and remove unsuitable materials from children and teenagers’ (Mawby & Johnston 2011. ‘Sex! Drugs! Violence! R+ draft guidelines released’).

It can therefore be seen that the news media’s routine association of an addiction to gaming with acts of aggression perpetrated by young people surmounts to an attempt to instigate a moral panic in society concerning violent video games. The success of this simplistic, sensationalist reporting in doing so, however, is yet to be explored. I theorise that moral panics surrounding video games have been effectively initiated by the media surrounding singular, significant acts of violence, such as school shootings. As these events have drifted in and out of the media’s spotlight, it is likely that a moral panic concerning the issue has undergone a repeated process of dying down and re-emerging again later in response to a new incident.

If you hate Jack Thompson as much as I do, enjoy!

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Benedetti, W. 2007, ‘Were video games to blame for massacre?’, MSNBC.com, 20 April, viewed 31 May 2011, < http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18220228/ns/technology_and_science-games/t/were-video-games-blame-massacre/>.

Bensley, L. & Van Eenwyk, J. 2001, ‘Video games and real-life aggression: Review of the literature’, Journal of Adolescent Health, vol. 29, pp. 244-257.

Chibnall, S. 1977, ‘Press ideology: The politics of professionalism’ in 2010, Crime and Media: A Reader, ed. C. Greer, Routledge, London, pp. 203-214.

Ferguson, C. J. 2008, ‘The school shooting/violent video game link: Causal relationship or moral panic?’, Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, vol. 5, pp. 25-37.

Jewkes, Y. 2004, Media and Crime, Sage Publications, London.

Marsh, I. & Melville, G. 2009, Crime Justice and the Media, Routledge, New York.

Mawby, N. & Johnston, M. 2011, ‘Sex! Drugs! Violence! R18+ draft guidelines released’, Herald Sun, 26 May, viewed 31 May 2011, < http://www.news.com.au/technology/gaming/sex-drugs-violence-r18-draft-guidelines-released/story-e6frfrt9-1226063238175>.

‘Philadelphia teen confesses to bludgeoning mum who took away PlayStation’ 2011, NewsCore, 16 February, viewed 31 May 2011, < http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/philadelphia-teen-confesses-to-bludgeoning-mum-who-took-away-playstation/story-fn3dxity-1226006749169>.

Reed, J. 2008, ‘Thailand bans Grand Theft Auto IV’, BBC News, 4 August, viewed 31 May 2011, < http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/technology/newsid_7540000/7540623.stm>.

Unsworth, G., Devilly, G. J. & Ward, T. 2007, ‘The effect of playing violent video games on adolescents: Should parents be quaking in their boots?’, Psychology, Crime & Law, vol. 13, no. 4, pp. 383-394.



If You Were a Serial Killer, What Would Your Name Be?

According to this website, mine would be ‘The Muffin Man’. I’m imagining my modus operandi would probably involve chopping my victims up into tiny little pieces, baking delicious, nutritious human chip muffins and then feeding said muffins to the victims’ unsuspecting family members, Titus Andronicus-style.

Of course, I can comfortably discuss this M.O. on the internet because I have absolutely no intention of becoming The Muffin Man anytime in the future. In fact, there are numerous forums dedicated to seeing who can develop the most inventive, hilarious and horrific serial killer ‘alias’ or pseudonym. Browsing these forums, I think my favourite so far would have to be ‘The Potato Head Killer’, who removes the fingers, toes, eyes, ears, lips, noses and tongues of their victims to add to their personal collection.

Referring to the glossy coffee table book I received for Christmas, A History of Australian True Crime (Samuelson & Mason 2008), the significant role serial killer pseudonyms play in establishing the notoriety of perpetrators is apparent. Most people can remember ‘The Kingsgrove Slasher’, ‘The Mutilator’, ‘The Granny Killer’ and ‘The Butcher of Wollongong’, but how many can connect the names David Scanlon, William MacDonald, John Wayne Glover and Mark Valera to their murders? Outside of Australia, the nicknames ‘The Acid Bath Murderer’, ‘The Giggling Granny’, ‘The BTK Killer’ and ‘The Vampire of Sacramento’ are undoubtedly more instantly recognisable than the perpetrators’ real names; John Haigh, Nannie Doss, Dennis Rader and Richard Chase.

This got me thinking:

a. How are pseudonyms attached to serial killers?

AND

b. Exactly what role do they play?

Most pseudonyms are developed whilst serial killers are still at large and have not been identified. However, so much a fundamental part of crime discourse do these pseudonyms become that they generally remain in use regardless of whether or not the true identity of the serial killer is ever discerned.

The Alligator Man/Joe Ball

For the most part, serial killer pseudonyms are invented by the news media in their reporting of cases. These pseudonyms may be related to the M.O. of the perpetrator, such as ‘The Alligator Man’ (Joe Ball) who in Texas in the 1930s fed the bodies of his victims to alligators. Conversely, they may be developed by reference to news values, such as the ‘threshold’ or perceived importance of an incident (Jewkes 2004, p. 41). This was exemplified by the name ‘The Granny Killer’, given by the news media to John Wayne Glover who murdered six elderly women in Sydney between 1989 and 1990. The name placed significant focus on the victims of Glover’s crimes, who may be considered to fit within the framework of an ‘ideal victim’ due to their vulnerability (Christie 1986).

The Zodiac Killer's
signature

On occasion, the news media may be assisted in the naming process by the serial killers themselves. This typically occurs through interaction between journalists and a serial killer, as in the case of the never identified ‘Zodiac Killer’, who used this name in a series of letters sent to the local press. This could also be seen in relation to ‘The Happy Face Killer’ (Keith Jesperson), who drew a smiley face on the numerous letters he sent to the media complaining about the lack of publicity his crimes were receiving.

The active role some serial killers play in the development of their own pseudonyms is indicative of the significance of pseudonyms in the construction of the ‘celebrity identity’ of a serial killer (Haggerty 2009, p. 174). The news media’s development and proliferation of a singular, original, easily-recognisable serial killer pseudonym may be seen to serve the purpose of garnering a public response to a case. Pseudonyms regularly come to symbolise an entire case, allowing for a simplified, mediated image in which ‘a complex reality is substituted for a simple, incontestable’ message which effectively captures and maintains the public’s attention (Jewkes 2004, pp. 44-45; Chibnall 1977, p. 207).

Furthermore, according to Warwick (2006, p. 553), the news media’s utilisation of pseudonyms may function to obscure the distinction between fact and fiction, allowing the identity of a serial killer to be abstracted from reality and transformed into something entirely different. The pseudonym of a serial killer may therefore develop its own folklore, often bearing little resemblance to the actual individual and their actions.



The real Martha Beck



Salma Hayek as Martha Beck. Really



 This is particularly evident in the numerous television series and films which, despite claiming to be based on real events, significantly alter the nature of serial killers to make them more appealing to an audience. Perhaps the greatest example of this is the 2006 film Lonely Hearts, directed by Todd Robinson, which is based on the series of murders committed by ‘The Lonely Hearts Killers’ (Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck) in the 1940s. In reality, Martha Beck’s role in the murders has been attributed to her anger and insecurity surrounding her severe weight problems and imperfect physical appearance. In the film, she’s played by Salma Hayek.      



It can therefore be seen that the pseudonyms for serial killers invented by the news media play a significant role in the generation of a popular culture obsession with the individuals and their crimes.

If you need to feed your serial killer obsession, head on over to Serial Killer Central where you can purchase serial killer memorabilia (including a board game and colouring books for the younger members of the family), send serial killer greeting cards, read the latest serial killer news and view serial killer related images and videos. Also, to test your serial killer knowledge, feel free to try my ‘Can You Match the Serial Killer to a Distinctive Aspect of Their Crime?’ quiz.

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Chibnall, S. 1977, ‘Press ideology: The politics of professionalism’ in 2010, Crime and Media: A Reader, ed. C. Greer, Routledge, London, pp. 203-214.

Christie, N. 1986, ‘The ideal victim’ in From Crime Policy to Victim Policy, E. Fattah ed., Basingstoke: Macmillan.

Jewkes, Y. 2004, Media and Crime, Sage Publications, London.

Samuelson, S. & Mason, R. 2008, A History of Australian True Crime, Ebury Press, North Sydney.

Warwick, A. 2006, ‘The scene of the crime: Inventing the serial killer’, Social & Legal Studies, vol. 15, no.4, pp. 552-569.

Scare Tactics

One glance at the image of a suspiciously familiar looking, pink-suited Barbie doll plastered in the top right-hand corner of this blog should make it resoundingly clear exactly who got my vote in the last state election. However, despite my support, in the end beauty, a toothy grin and an endearing accent just weren’t enough to secure Kristina Keneally’s re-election as Premier of NSW. This video may provide some support for those still in mourning over this terrible loss:

Goodbye Kristina Keneally

Although the process may be difficult, it is time we move on and accept the fact that the spunky blonde from America has been replaced by Fatty O’Barrel Barry O’Farrell as our fearless leader. In order to understand exactly how it all went so wrong for Ms. Keneally, it would be wise to reflect back on the successes and stumbles featured in the lead up to the 2011 election.

Remember this heart-rendering, dramatic (and heavily criticised) monologue delivered by the then-Premier?

Consider yourself warned, population of New South Wales. Under a Liberal government, crime rates will be so high and police numbers so few that you will need to ‘take care of your neighbour’

O’Farrell, ever the critic, chided the Premier for having reached ‘a despicable new low’ by seeking to ‘scare the vulnerable in the community’. But really, if we take this to have been Keneally’s primary objective, is it possible to describe this as a despicable new low?

This got me thinking:

Is there anything new about politicians employing scare tactics when discussing law and order issues in the media?

 

It appears Keneally can not be considered to have invented an entirely original campaigning method. The media itself has drawn a clear parallel between the former-premier’s speech and the warning issued to the public in 1983 by then-Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser that your money would be ‘safer under your bed than in the banks’ if Bob Hawke was in power (Clenell 2011. 'Old scare tactics born of desparation'; The Daily Telegraph 2011. 'Keneally fear card just insults voters'). While in this case Fraser was referring to the economy rather than bank-robbers, this does hint at the fact that the scare tactics employed by Keneally have deep historical roots.

In fact, Keneally’s own state labor party (then led by Morris Iemma) used comparable tactics (albeit more successfully) in the 2007 election. In the lead up to the election, the Labor government introduced the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Gangs) Act 2006, which gave police more powers to disperse groups and enter and search premises. When introducing this legislation to the NSW Parliament, and perhaps more importantly, the media, MP Tony Steward delivered a speech containing ‘dramatic assertions’ about the ‘rampant lawlessness’ of gangs which appeared to be directed at creating a climate of fear in the community (Miralis 2008, p. 35).

If this sounds at all familiar, it’s because there are some striking similarities between this legislation and the Crimes (Criminal Organisations Control) Act 2009, also known as the ‘anti-bikie’ legislation. In fact, due to their increasing of police powers, both statutes are perfect examples of the ‘tough on crime’ approach regularly flouted by political parties during election time. According to Hogg and Brown (1998, p. 4), this approach utilises a ‘law and order commonsense’ conception of crime, in which crime is viewed as a ‘problem of ever-increasing gravity set to overwhelm society unless urgent, typically punitive measures are taken to control and suppress it’. 

The use of this conception to heighten the public’s fear of crime, and subsequently their dependence on and support for a particular political party, has been traced all the way back to the United States elections of the 1960s. The ‘moral panic whipped up by the conservatives’ surrounding issues of law and order, as exemplified by the campaigns of GOP nominee Barry Goldwater in 1964 and Richard Nixon in 1968, has been linked to the rising of crime to the status of America’s number one domestic problem (Lee 2007, p. 201; Loo 2004, p. 50).

It seems therefore that political scare tactics have long been employed by politicians in order  to garner public support during the lead up to an election. Subsequently, through her depiction of crime as a dangerous threat which exists somewhere ‘out there’, and the police as our valiant, superhuman protectors, Keneally’s speech may be viewed as nothing more than another example of the significant role law and order commonsense conceptions play in political discourse.

We miss you Kristina, please return to politics soon



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Clenell, A. 2011, ‘Old scare tactics born of desperation’, The Daily Telegraph, 12 March, viewed on 7 May, < http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/old-scare-tactics-born-of-desperation/story-fn6b3v4f-1226020021636>.

Hogg, R. & Brown, D. 1998, Rethinking law and order, Pluto Press, Annandale.

‘Keneally fear card just insults voters’ 2011, The Daily Telegraph, 12 March, viewed on 7 May, < http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/keneally-fear-card-just-insults-voters/story-e6frezz0-1226019932824>.

Lee, M. 1996. ‘Governance and criminality: The 1995 New South Wales election campaign and law and order’, Current Issues in Criminal Justice, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 152-162.

Lee, M. 2007, Inventing fear of crime: Criminology and the politics of anxiety, Willan Publications, Uffculme.

Loo, D. D. & Grimes, R. M. 2004. ‘Polls, politics and crime: The ‘law and order’ issue of the 1960s, Western Criminology Review, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 50-67.

Miralis, D. ‘Law & order 2007-style’, Law Society Journal, pp. 54-57.

Too Much Information

Although it occurred just over four years ago, there remains one crime that I find difficult to forget; the cold-blooded murder of Eliza Jane Davis by two 17-year-old girls. I attribute this emotionally scarring effect to the news report I read on the crime, which featured an extensive, disturbing and graphic description of the brutal attack.



Eliza Jane Davis

Reflecting on the continuing personal impact of this case, I became interested in looking at whether the news report I read was part of a greater trend in reporting in which journalists flesh out every gruesome, horrific detail of a crime. Subsequently, over the past month I have collected an extensive number of articles which fit this criteria (See ‘The Best Of: ‘Too Much Information’ Quotes). From this activity, I have determined that this style of reporting appears to be prolific, featuring heavily in both trashy news sources (MX, ninemsn.com.au) and more reputable sources (Sydney Morning Herald, Sunday Telegraph).

This got me thinking:

a. Why are contemporary news reports saturated with gory depictions of crime?

AND

b. Why do people read these reports?

Taking a pluralist approach, it can be theorised that the mass media is compelled by reasons of profit to report gruesome crime stories due to public demand for such stories (Marsh & Melville 2009, p. 33). However, this theory, while addressing question A, provides only a partial account of graphic news reporting, as it provides no insight into why this public demand exists in the first place.

A deeper understanding of the issue can only be ascertained through an examination of the consumption of crime news as a voyeuristic activity. According to Surette (2007, pp. 16-17), the attraction of crime news is that it offers audiences ‘an escape from the normal via a construction of the unusual’. The immersive quality of news reports may therefore be suggested to be intensified through a highly graphic representation of the intimate, sordid details of violent crime, as such crime is generally distant from the responder’s everyday life.

It is argued by Presdee (2000, p. 73) that there is a highly addictive quality to the voyeuristic pleasure audiences may receive through reading such detailed reports. It is this addictive quality which may be seen as conducive to the extensive focus on the grotesque in news reporting.

This indicates that the two questions I have posed are inextricably linked in a much more complicated manner than was first envisioned. This may be seen to be reflective of the complex nature of the news-making process.

Postmodern criminology theory suggests that the mass media itself has played a significant role in the formation of a culture based on ‘immediate consumption and sensationalised impact’. This focus on entertainment and a resulting lack of substance (Marsh & Melville 2009, p. 37) is perfectly personified by the extensiveness with which gratuitous crime reports have invaded all forms of the news media.

From this, it can be concluded that the news-making process operates in a cyclical motion, with the media’s graphic reporting of violent crime feeding into the public’s voyeuristic tendencies, and this in turn resulting in an increased demand for more graphic crime reporting in greater quantities.   

Personally, despite the long-lasting impact of the Davis case, I find myself constantly logging into ninemsn.com.au to read about the latest violent crime, morbidly fascinated by every detail.

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Marsh, I & Melville, G 2009, Crime Justice and the Media, Routledge, Oxon.

Presdee, M 2000, Cultural Criminology and the Carnival of Crime, Routledge, London.

Surette, R 2007, Media, Crime and Criminal Justice: Images, Realities, and Policies, 3^rd ed., Thomson Wadsworth, Belmont.