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28 Dec 2025

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3 pages

Understanding Criminology: Introduction to Unit 1 Concepts

Jessica Blackhurst

@essicalackhurst_sbvp

Ever wondered why crime stories dominate your news feed and... Show more

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Ac 1.4
Describe the media representation of crime:
Key terms:
Tabloid: popular press, small pages, many pictures, short stories, e.g the s

How Newspapers Shape Crime Stories

Newspapers are absolutely obsessed with crime because, let's face it, that's what grabs our attention. About 1 in 8 news reports focus on crime, with tabloids like The Sun and Daily Mail dedicating even more space to these stories than quality papers like The Guardian.

Here's the thing though - newspapers follow something criminologists call the "law of opposites". This means the crimes that make headlines are basically the complete opposite of what's actually happening in real life. Tabloids especially love turning crime into "infotainment" - a mix of information and dramatic entertainment that keeps you scrolling.

News values determine which stories make it to print, and crime stories that involve drama, fear, and shocking details always win. Remember how every British newspaper covered the 2017 Barcelona terrorist attack with words like "massacre" and "bloodbath"? That's classic scaremongering - spreading stories that make the public feel afraid and keep them buying papers.

Quick Fact: Both tabloids and broadsheets often report crime in surprisingly similar dramatic ways, focusing on the most negative and frightening aspects.

Television's Crime Obsession

Telly absolutely loves crime content - about a quarter of all TV output is crime dramas! But just like newspapers, TV gets crime completely wrong compared to official statistics.

Crime news on television focuses heavily on violent crimes, even though most real crimes are actually boring property offences like shoplifting. Reality TV shows are slightly different - they tend to feature more young suspects than the typical older, middle-class criminals you see in regular news reports.

Crime fiction dominates our screens with shows like Sherlock, Law and Order, and Midsomer Murders. About two-thirds of US crime shows focus on murder, assault, or armed robbery. When property crime does appear, it's portrayed as these elaborate, high-value heists with loads of violence - nothing like real burglary!

There's an interesting trend happening too: TV dramas increasingly show police failing or being corrupt, which is quite different from how they used to always be the heroes. Shows often represent both offenders and victims as higher status, white, middle-aged people, with women more likely to be portrayed as victims.

Reality Check: The James Bulger case sparked fears about media influence when people thought the killers were inspired by Child's Play 3, but police found no evidence this actually happened.

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Criminology

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610

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28 Dec 2025

•

3 pages

Understanding Criminology: Introduction to Unit 1 Concepts

Jessica Blackhurst

@essicalackhurst_sbvp

Ever wondered why crime stories dominate your news feed and favourite TV shows? The media plays a massive role in shaping what we think we know about crime, but their version often looks nothing like reality. Understanding how different media... Show more

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How Newspapers Shape Crime Stories

Quick Fact: Both tabloids and broadsheets often report crime in surprisingly similar dramatic ways, focusing on the most negative and frightening aspects.

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Television's Crime Obsession

Telly absolutely loves crime content - about a quarter of all TV output is crime dramas! But just like newspapers, TV gets crime completely wrong compared to official statistics.

Reality Check: The James Bulger case sparked fears about media influence when people thought the killers were inspired by Child's Play 3, but police found no evidence this actually happened.

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