Over the past two decades, considerable political rhetoric has focused on the need to get tough on crime. Justification for this hard-line approach has been the publics apparent concern about rising crime rates and its increasing dissatisfaction with criminal sentencing. These concerns, often fuelled by the medias selective presentation of information about crime, are thought to leave people feeling afraid and, as a consequence, more likely to support punitive sentencing policies. The subject of this thesis is on the nature of and influences on peoples perceptions of and responses to crime. Four studies are reported. / The first study compared how people perceived the seriousness of an offence when it was presented first in the abstract form as is customary in public opinion surveys, and then as an exemplar based on an actual crime. Although the overall ranking of seriousness for the two conditions corresponded closely, the majority of crimes were rated as significantly less serious when presented in vignette form. / In study two, the role of social cognition and language in the evaluation of crime seriousness was examined. The findings revealed that when the offender in a crime vignette was named, the offence was perceived as less serious, and the offenders behaviour less internally motivated, less stable, and less under the offenders control than when the offender was not named. Similarly, manipulating the verb used to describe the offence resulted in significant differences with respect to the perceived crime seriousness, the degree to which the offenders behaviour was controllable, and the level of responsibility attributed to the offender for that behaviour. / Study three, which examined the relationship between fear of crime and punitiveness, entailed the development of two new measures: crime apprehension and locus of control for crime victimisation. Locus of control was found to be a significant predictor of crime apprehension, while the measure of crime apprehension revealed a pattern of concern that differentiated between types of crime, and involved different graduations in the assessment of their relevance to the individual. Punitiveness was shown to be related to a concern about the likelihood that one would be harmed personally; concern about property crime or the perception that crime is on the increase were not reflected in punitiveness. / Study four investigated the relationship between people's television viewing habits, their apprehension about crime, and their beliefs about increased crime prevalence. The pattern of responses revealed that heavier viewing of different programme types was associated with beliefs about perceived increases in different crime categories and for different aspects of crime apprehension. For example, watching more reality television and Australian crime drama was positively associated with beliefs that person-related offences had substantially increased over the preceding five year period, and increased apprehension about becoming the victim of person- and property-related crimes; watching more commercial news and current affairs programmes was also related to increased apprehension about becoming a victim of person and property-related offences. / A recurring concern in these studies was the need the address perceived deficiencies in definition and measurement of constructs of interest. The pattern of results confirmed the importance of such concerns and moves closer to resolving some of the inconsistencies evident in the research undertaken to date. / Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2004.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1971. / Typescript. Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 433-470).

This thesis will explore the media's increasing impact on the criminal court system, specifically through prejudicial publicity given to criminal trials. In our society, the primary responsibility for gathering and disseminating information rests on the media. The media, consisting primarily of television and written publications, feel that they have a duty to provide citizens with important information about the community and the world. While the media have traditionally gathered news for informational purposes, they also provide news coverage of people and events for entertainment value. This is accomplished by focusing on the out-of-the ordinary and on stories of intrigue that capture the public's fancy. The media's desire to inform and entertain has carried over into the legal process, specifically the criminal court system. The media are typically drawn to cases that either provide a shocking, outrageous storyline, or that have a high-profile, famous defendant. The media love to exploit criminal trials for the suspense, drama, and sensationalism that they produce, as the viewing audience is longing for inside gossip and pure outrageousness. However, the media have the capability of publicizing a case beyond just mere hype, essentially turning the trial into a "media circus." Concerns arise when media outlets release prejudicial information before the case has been tried in front of the trier-of- fact, the jury. If the potential jurors consume this prejudicial, often-times inadmissible, information, then this increases the chances that jurors will pre-form opinions as to the guilt or innocence of the defendant prior to hearing the in-court evidence. If this occurs, the defendant's Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial by an impartial jury is in serious jeopardy. The media's First Amendment rights of free speech and press, coupled with a presumed right of access to criminal proceedings, lie in direct conflict with the defendant's Sixth Amendment due process rights. Exactly how courts go about balancing these rights delineated by the United States Constitution is still not definitive. The media feel that they can publicize criminal trials in any way they deem appropriate, while defendants argue that the jury pool is tainted by the media's coverage of the case. This prevents a truly unbiased jury from being chosen. Because of these constitutional issues, the United States Supreme Court has seen fit to enter the media publicity debate. While not providing, any definitive rules on when media publicity violates a defendant's Sixth Amendment's rights, the members of the Court have provided some recommendations and direction on these issues. When a case arouses the interest of media outlets nationally and internationally, the primary focus turns to the jury pool. Since jurors are seen as the trial participants most influenced by the media coverage, methods to keep the jury from being exposed to prejudicial pretrial publicity are utilized. At times, a skillfully and thoroughly conducted voir dire can find jurors unexposed to media coverage about the case. The judge's role has expanded in recent years as the media have become more pervasive in the criminal court system. The judge is responsible for supervising the media and for making sure that they do not infringe on the defendant's Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial by an impartial jury. To accomplish this duty, the trial judge has a number of mechanisms that he or she can employ against the media in order to ensure that a fair and unbiased jury is chosen for the case. However, these mechanisms are loathed by media outlets as they assert that these tools violate their First Amendment rights. Attorneys have been impacted by the media; however this relationship is unique in that it is a reciprocal one. The media publicize the trial of the attorney's client. In turn, the attorney uses this publicity as a weapon to advocate his or her client's case and proclaim guilt or innocence. Concerns about these extrajudicial statements arise when attorneys themselves release prejudicial information through the media to the representative community from which the jury will be chosen. As a result, the American Bar Association and various states have enacted rules designed to limit attorney speech so as to prevent any possibility of prejudice to the defendant in his or her trial. Indeed, the media have become more pervasive in the criminal court system, projecting events to the world as they happen. The coverage also tends to focus on the entertainment value of the case, releasing details that play on the viewer's emotions. However, an aggressive media impacts the due process rights of the accused, thus harming the search for justice. These are all issues and concerns that would not have arisen in this context, but-for the media's continuing impact on the criminal justice system.

Lee Yee Chong, Catherine. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references. / Acknowledgments / Abstract / Chapter I. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / The Media as Definer of Social Reality --- p.1 / Crime and Hong Kong -- A General Background (1989-1993) --- p.3 / Research Problem and Significance --- p.5 / Notes --- p.7 / Chapter II. --- THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK -- NEWS AS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF REALITY --- p.9 / Park (1940) -- News as Knowledge --- p.9 / The Social Construction of Reality --- p.11 / The Foundation of Knowledge in Everyday Life --- p.11 / Society as Objective Reality --- p.12 / Society as Subjective Reality --- p.13 / Media and the Social Construction of Reality: Towards an Integration of Theory and Research --- p.14 / Gatekeeping Theory --- p.16 / Agenda Setting Theory --- p.17 / Media Agenda Setting --- p.18 / An Integrated Theoretical Model for Crime News Study --- p.19 / Conceptualization of social realities --- p.20 / Inference in the process of social construction of reality --- p.20 / Figure 1: Integrated Theoretical Model for Crime News Study Notes --- p.22 / Chapter III. --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.24 / Understanding the News making Process --- p.24 / Empirical Research in Crime News (1950s - 1990s) --- p.25 / Crime News as a Distorted Reality -- Misrepresentation and biasin reporting --- p.25 / Criteria in News Reporting --- p.29 / How Crime News is Handled by the Press - -Differences in Media Agenda --- p.31 / Crime News and Criminal Activities in Contemporary Society --- p.33 / "Crime News, Public Attitude and Fear of Victimization" --- p.34 / Crime News in Chinese Newspapers --- p.35 / Major Publication in Crime and the Press (1970s - 1990s) --- p.36 / Quinney (1970) - -The Social Reality of Crime --- p.36 / Winick (1978) - -Deviance and Mass Media --- p.37 / Graber (1980) - -Crime News and the Public --- p.38 / "Ericson, Baranek and Chan (1987) --Visualizing Deviance: A Study of News Organization" --- p.41 / "Ericson, Baranek and Chan (1989) -- Negotiating Control: A Study of News Source" --- p.42 / "Ericson, Baranek and Chan (1991) - -Representing Order: Crime, Law, and Justice in the Mass Media" --- p.43 / Lotz (1991) - -Crime and the American Press --- p.44 / "Suretta (1992) -- Media, Crime, and Criminal Justices: Images and Realities" --- p.45 / Summary on Research Findings --- p.45 / Notes --- p.47 / Chapter IV. --- RESEARCH HYPOTHESES AND METHODOLOGIES --- p.50 / Research Hypotheses --- p.50 / Research Design --- p.52 / Definition of Crime --- p.52 / Background Information of Ming Pao and Oriental Daily News --- p.53 / Sampling and Data Collection Methods --- p.54 / Basic Research Design and Operationalization of Variables --- p.56 / Notes --- p.58 / Chapter V. --- CRIME NEWS IN HONG KONG --- p.59 / Size of Coverage and Various Visual Aids --- p.59 / Nature and Causes of Crime --- p.65 / Stereotypes of Suspects and Criminals --- p.67 / Stereotypes of Victims --- p.72 / "Sources, Information and Newsworthiness" --- p.73 / Image of Crime Fighting Institutions and Public Security --- p.78 / Distortions in Crime News Coverage --- p.80 / Official Reality versus Symbolic Reality --- p.81 / "Media Attention, Newsworthiness and Different Crime Topics" --- p.85 / Legitimating the Status of Law Enforcement Institutions --- p.87 / Differences in Media Agenda -- Elite Press versus Mass-Oriented Press --- p.88 / Notes --- p.92 / Chapter VI. --- THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF CRIME --- p.93 / Official News Sources and News Organizations --- p.95 / Market Differences and Media Agenda --- p.96 / Manufacturing A Universal Consensus against Crime --- p.98 / Summary on Discussion --- p.100 / Recommendations for Further Study --- p.101 / Notes --- p.102 / Chapter VII. --- CONCLUSION --- p.103 / Notes --- p.105 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.i -xii / Appendices / Appendix I -- Code Book --- p.1-13 / Appendix II --Table for sampling --- p.1-4 / Appendix III - -Score of Inter Coder Reliability Test --- p.1-2 / Appendix IV -- Important Crime Figures and Other Statistics --- p.1-11 / Appendix V -- Testing of Hypotheses --- p.1-2

This research examines how racism is hidden and denied by the press, and how blame is attributed to individuals in crime news stories. This research heavily relies of van Dijk's (2015) six discursive strategies to reveal how racism is hidden and denied in the press: positive self-presentation, denial and counter-attack, moral blackmail, subtle denials, mitigation, and defense and offense. Specifically, the Chapel Hill shooting is used as an example of a crime news story for my case study. This study will use framing as the primary method, and critical discourse analysis will be used to guide my interpretations of the frames. Frames are defined by Entman (1993) as texts that select "some aspects of a perceived reality and make them more salient" in such a way as to promote a particular problem definition, causal interpretation, moral evaluation, and/or treatment recommendation for the item described. I will examine words and phrases used when referring to the perpetrator and the victims in the crime story, and examine manifest frames. I begin by explicating terms that my research is founded upon: ideology, critical discourse analysis, race and racism, blame, and framing. Newspaper articles are collected and analyzed for van Dijk's six discursive strategies. The difference between national and regional news coverage is also examined. My findings suggest there are two gaps in van Dijk's six discursive strategies. I propose the addition of two discursive strategies that the press use to deny racism: negative self-presentation and contradiction.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Sydney, 2007. / Title from title screen (viewed October 20, 2009) Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Dept. of English, Faculty of Arts. Includes bibliographical references. Also issued in print format.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 261-266).

This study examines and analyzes the treatment accorded Alger Hiss by the American press from August 3, 1948, to January 25, 1950. Information sources included the forty-one newspaper articles submitted by Hiss's attorneys in their motion for a change of venue at the second trial, and those sections of books, newspapers, and magazine articles relative to the press's coverage of the case. Six chapters cover the changing press image of Hiss, newspaper articles submitted in evidence, and the relationships of Richard M. Nixon and Whittaker Chambers to the press. The study analyzes historically the differing attitudes toward Hiss and concludes that since the press reflected the nation's fears that its leaders had Communist ties, press coverage of the case lessened Hiss's chances for a fair trial.

No description available.