Media and Crime Content, Contexts and Consequence

Public knowledge of crime and criminal justice often develops through the media to the extent that, for some people, the media may be their sole source of information on these issues and systems. The role that the media plays in shaping public perceptions of crime and criminality, and framing debates about criminal justice and responses to crime, is therefore undeniable. For these reasons, questions of media influence have become a prominent aspect of criminological theorising and inquiry. Media and Crime offers a new and innovative approach to these debates and analysis by combining the skills and expertise of journalism and media studies with criminological knowledge to critically interrogate the nexus between the media and crime, and the linkages between process, practice and representation. Wide-ranging in subject matter, and international in scope, it provides a theoretically informed analysis of media constructions of crime, criminality and criminal justice. Media and Crime will be of interest to scholars, practitioners and students of journalism, media studies, criminology, sociology, and the general reader.

Rob White Professor, School of Social Sciences, University of Tasmania Katrina Clifford Lecturer in Journalism, Media and Communications, University of Tasmania