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.

The Reality of Crime Fiction

Spending three glorious months of university holidays in a cushy, air-conditioned house with a foxtel-equipped, 52 inch flat-screen television gave me ample time to feed my slight crime fiction obsession.

Why would I feel any need to venture outside into the sunlight when TV1 broadcasts its ‘Crime Time’ segment from 11am-2pm daily? Or when 13^th Street and the Crime Investigation channel screen classic crime fiction and crime infotainment series 24/7? Better still, why would I ever switch over to the news to listen to bland law and order stories, when I can follow fast-paced criminal investigations (albeit fictional ones) on approximately ten other channels at the exact same time?


Accordingly, during the holidays, news, crime related or otherwise, quickly became the enemy. The analytical skills which I knew I had to apply in order to separate fact from fiction whilst watching those tricky news segments were not in accord with my attempts to wind down after a stressful year of university. Watching crime fiction, conversely, was the passive, purely entertaining escape I needed. I had utter confidence in my ability to let my analytical guard down whilst still viewing crime fiction as exactly that; fictional.


However, as the weeks went on, I gradually began to recognise alterations in what I held to be ‘true’ about crime, criminal investigations and the criminal justice system. The strangers around me began to look more and more like criminals, I began to feel more and more like a potential victim, and, when I was witness to a man stealing a laptop in a department store, I fully expected a complete forensic investigation to be conducted. It was at that moment that I finally realised that even I, completing a double degree in Criminology and Law, was susceptible to mistaking fiction for fact, particularly when this fiction came in the form of a technologically cutting-edge, highly entertaining television series.



This got me thinking:


Exactly what effect has the increasing ability of crime fiction television series to appear 'real' had on audience members' conceptions of crime?



Upon some research, I found a paper which provided a thought-provoking response; Penny Wise’s ‘Providing the CSI treatment’ (2009). This paper details the rise of a phenomenon over the past ten years known as the ‘CSI effect’, named after the incredibly popular American procedural crime fiction television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and its two spin-off series; CSI: Miami and CSI: NY.


The CSI effect is said to be a result of the franchise’s extensive and seemingly realistic portrayal of advanced forensic methodology utilised in criminal investigations.

The focus on forensic methodology is highlighted in the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation series’ opening montage

And in this inside look into the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation laboratory

The popularity of the CSI franchise has even led to the release of nine interactive video games which position the player as a detective, allowing them to put their investigative ‘skills’ and forensic ‘knowledge’ to the test

It is perceived by proponents of the CSI effect theory that the rise in popularity of procedural crime fiction series such as CSI has resulted in an increasing reliance of jurors on forensic evidence, in particular DNA evidence, in relation to convicting a suspect. This reliance is further complicated by the resulting ‘impossibly high expectations’ of jurors in relation to the nature, quantity and quality of forensic evidence which can be obtained in real-life criminal investigations (Wise 2009, p. 384).

Wise states that the impact of the CSI effect can be seen in the increased reluctance of criminal justice practitioners to go to trial without DNA evidence, resulting in an increasing backlog of DNA samples, and subsequently large delays in trials (Wise 2009). This issue has become a focal point of the 2011 NSW election campaign, with the leader of the Liberal opposition, Barry O’Farrell, pledging $10 million in order to wipe out the backlog of 7671 cases awaiting DNA analysis (ABC News 2011. 'O'Farrell promises to clear DNA backlog').

ABC News, February 11, 2011

The supposed ability of procedural crime fiction programs to alter the public’s understanding of the criminal investigation process may be explained by the cultural effects model. This model infers that it is through the ‘regular broadcast of images and ideas over a period of time’ that crime media has an impact on how audiences view and understand the world around them (Marsh & Melville 2009, p. 25) . Although there are extensive practical difficulties in establishing a clear causal relationship between crime media images and effects, the cultural effects model does draw focus to the potential for audiences to ‘learn’ about crime whilst watching entertainment television (Croteau & Hoynes 2003, p. 15).

Subsequently, despite limitations on the extent of research conducted, the CSI effect does support my proposal that the increasingly realistic appearance of crime fiction has the potential to result in widespread misconceptions concerning crime, criminal investigations and the criminal justice system.

Personally, after three months of passively viewing as much crime fiction as I could get my hands on, I did notice a substantial change in my perspective on a number of crime-related issues. As a result, I’m actually thankful to be back at university, where I’m required to critically analyse the media I consume.

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Croteau, D & Hoynes, W 2003, Media Society: Industries, Images and Audiences, Pine Forge Press.

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

'O'Farrell promises to clear DNA backlog' 2011, ABC News, 15 February, viewed on 12 March 2011 <http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2011/02/15/3139721.htm?site=goldcoast>.

Wise, J 2009, 'Providing the CSI treatment: criminal justice practitioners and the CSI effect', Current Issues in Criminal Justice, Vol. 21, No. 3: pp. 383-399.