Media Coverage of Crime and Criminal Justice

Media Coverage of Crime and Criminal Justice critically examines the media to identify how crime and criminal justice are treated in the news, entertainment, and infotainment media. The book sheds light on important realities of crime and criminal justice and corrects major misconceptions created by coverage of crime and criminal justice in the media. While there are other texts on the market focused on the impact of mass media on criminal justice, this text is the only one that starts with the issue of corporate ownership of the mass media as a problem for gaining an accurate understanding of the realities of crime and criminal justice.

The third edition updates the second with the latest studies focusing on media coverage of crime, police, courts, and corrections, with an expansive new section on media coverage of capital punishment. Further, studies and examinations of entertainment media (e.g., television shows, movies) are incorporated into this new edition.

Unique among media books, the author presents basic information about the media in the introductory chapters and then applies this information to specific issues of crime and criminal justice in the rest of the book. By focusing on the same issues and themes throughout, learning of key concepts is furthered as they are applied to real-world media. The book addresses media coverage of law-making and crime, policing, courts, and corrections, as well as how the media both help and hinder effective crime control and crime prevention efforts.

Matthew B. Robinson is a Professor in the Department of Government and Justice Studies at Appalachian State University.