Media houses are tools tasked to deliver information to the public
Media houses are tools tasked to deliver information to the public. Whereas some media houses provide true and accurate information about crime rate to the public others, give false and distorted information, thus creating falls fear. A conclusion of this perception can by comparing some television stations and newspapers like CNN and The Times. Broadsheet publications are often considered reliable by the readers compared to the tabloid papers because they tend to unbiased. For instance, in a study conducted to show how trustworthy media sources can be, tabloids like the daily mail and the Sunday times were among the least reliable references with a score of 3.9 and 4.2 respectively. At the same time, The Sun and The Mirror are thought to be more accurate and secure with a score of 5.1 and 5, 2, respectively (Shah et al., 2019). Most people argue that their information is calculated and measured, and thus it is less likely to be distorted.
Nevertheless “Broadsheet newspapers” are likely to change the perception of things and distort information on the reality of crime and criminal behaviour. For instance, in 2014, CSEW concluded that The Guardian changed the reader’s perception, by 34% when it intimated that corruption had increased in the whole country. Other newspapers like The Times and The Daily Telegraph believed to influence their reader’s perceptions of crime rates with scores of 43% and 51% respectively (Office for National Statistics, 2015). Although these ratings are considerably lower than tabloid newspapers, such as The Sun and The Daily Mirror, with 70% and 73% respectively (ibid), clearly broadsheet papers may still present biased reporting which in turn can change perceptions of crime. Television Channels also have the same power of influencing opinion among their audience. For instance, The British Broadcasting Corporation is always seen as one of the most reliable sources of information worldwide. However, even the leading broadcaster is subject to distorting its information because the main focus of the newsrooms is to tell stories that maintain public attention. Though some media sources are believed to be more reliable than others, their reliability in terms of criminal behaviour and crime rates is questionable, since they strongly influence the public in terms of how it perceives crime.
This essay strives to show that all forms of media sources be it newspapers and television channels tend to distort rather than reflect the actual state of crime in the society. Most media houses show a growing trend of violent crime which is not necessarily the case at hand. Media often does this mostly to captivate their audience for commercial purposes. There is an over-representations of violent crime, which fails to reflect falling rates of crime and the fewer threats which is the reality, along with under-representation of property crime, that has been consistently rising over the last decade.