Media and the Criminal Justice System Essay

Media has a steady influence on todays society and the criminal scarceness system. Interaction with the media continues to create problems in overcoming the racial disparities in this nation, ascribable to wickedness that is committed by heathenish minorities in the media increasing racial stereotypes. Media overly has a great influence and disadvantages regarding high profile criminal casings, modify the way Ameri earth-closets view the criminal nicety system.High video to the intelligence service and entertainment media has been proven it increase charge,which groundwork rise the horror place in communities. In any case, when turning on the countersign and facial expression through the pages of a local news showpaper, minorities , mostly Afri basin-Ameri weeds atomic number 18 the central concentrate on of nuisance ,creating the portal that abusives are the main source of crime in our nation (see figure 1). The graph below shows the increasing pith of minat ory on black crimes over the years.A 2007 special report released by the Bureau of umpire Statistics, reveals that approximately 8,000 and, in certain years, as some as 9,000 Afri suffer Americans are murdered annually in the get together States .The media has led to racial stereotypes of African-Americans delinquent to the amount of black on black crime that is reported everyday. Fig. 1. Homicide victims by race and gender of the victims 1933-2005Department of Justice Report2007More so, informing the semipublic of what occurred instead of solutions to the problem. This issue results to a misunderstanding by the viewer who assumes that the images and facts portrayed are representations of racial groups as a whole, instead of those particular people that are being mentioned. put down more Advantages and Disadvantages of Mass CommunicationThe media can excessively influence the rightfulness enforcement opinion of blacks, they go for been many illegal actions on the basis of an separate race and ethnicity known as racial profile. In addition,victims who are an ethnic minority are rarely featured on the news, un standardised ovalbumin victims who claim the spotlight in media entertainment. Such as the murder of Teryvon Martin. As a result, of the medias false portrayals of crime and offenders has resulted in the continuation of negative beliefs in our country. The main point of this issue is the problem of racial profiling that exists in various communities within our society including the criminal justice system.However, media coverage or press attention in criminal cases poses its advantages and disadvantages. promotion can cause unknown witnesses to come forward so that their information whitethorn be considered and the facts correctly determined. It can also function to ensure that the psyche who is charged is being treated fairly by subjecting their decisions to the public. Media coverage can also provide the encouragement for needed chan ges in the criminal justice system . Media in criminal cases can also have its disadvantages. Publicity may cause some imagines or prosecutors, particularly those who essential re elected , to act in a manner to help his or her votes rather than in the manner of fairness and justice. The media can also influence the jurors decision.There are righteousnesss that protects a jury from being influenced by media reporting, but there have been situations where criminal cases hear claims that a defendant cannot get a fair trial because of the media. These concerns are taken earnestly by judges and also by reporters and editors who can face impounding for compromising the legal process. Yet there has been many opinions from lawyers and journalists, that most juries are sophisticated enough to ignore media reports when they are asked to return a verdict.There have been many high profile cases where the media influence the public and exposed themselves in a negative manner , as well as sure the public of the wrongdoing of the criminal justice system. For example, The Treyvon Martin case exposed the beat in the media. Similar to what I stated in the beginning of this paper.The media rarely broadcast victims that are African-American. It took one month for the Treyvon Martin shooting to air on the news. Another incident that shows the lack of law in the media, is the television of George Zimmerman arriving at the police station. After ABC News ethereal surveillance video of George Zimmerman, entering a police precinct without any apparent injuries, another news program enhanced still images from the video and concluding that it found what may be an injury to the back of his head.The sites photo epitome photoshopped the back of Zimmermans head with yellow arrows and stated this itindicates what appears to be a vertical laceration or scar several inches long. These statements were lately deemed as false. As, I mentioned above, the media can inform the public of the wrongdoing in the criminal justice system. The Drew Peterson trial allowed hearsay to be presented as evidence in the case,though hearsay is stated as unconstitutional. A change in the law was made in order to use the hearsay against him. The media informed the public of the matter.The Daily Center is also the same news program that create the 152 pages of Martins tweets from a social networking site known as Tweeter. The judge, Debra S. Nelson of Seminole County round Court, said Mr. Martins Twitter, Facebook and school records were relevant in the self-defense case. The media influenced the judge to allow the tweets to analyze Martins personality , which might have been seen as a typical high school male, centre on girls, fetch up and getting out of class early, or to be used against him in order to show whether a victim had an alleged propensity to effect or aggression, the judge said. Similar to any other teenager his tweets focused on ditching school and girls, using t hem in a criminal case is a bias approach to the situation.Another show, The Today Show underwent an informal investigation from NBC regarding the editorial process after its morning show aired an edited conversation between George Zimmerman and a 911 dispatcher recorded beforehand the shooting. The investigation came after Fox News and others pointed out that the network joined two parts of the call together, making it appear as if Zimmerman had said, This jackass looks like hes up to no good. He looks black. In reality, Zimmerman was answering a dispatchers question Zimmerman This guy looks like hes up to no good. Or hes on drugs or something. Its raining and hes just walking around, looking about. Dispatcher OK, and this guyis he black, white or Hispanic? Zimmerman He looks black.(02 April 2012)The actions that the media took influenced the public and the courts and showed the negative aspects of allowing the media to inform the public. This case in particular showed the amou nt of racism, lack of integrity that exist in media entertainment. The business organisation of crime can be associated with media exposure. The media in general leans to exaggerate the crime . For example, the crime that you are more likely to see on the news are in relation to gun violence, the same thing can be found on the internet and newspaper. Crime through media is mean to draw the reader in, and interest them. Yet a daily exposure can encourage fear in the viewer. The fear of crime can outweigh the actual risks.Those who are in fear of crime tend to stay home rather than venture outdoors, this can increase the amount of crime. Signs of incivility in a community rises the crime rate due to criminals being drawn to communities where they perceive a lack of of social prevail by local residents(p.281). Another reason for promoting a certain fear of crime is money. By increasing the idea of violent crime, the dominant goal are more likely to invest in certain protections.Th e media lacks integrity due to broadcasting stories that attacks the reputation of African-Americans and other ethnic minorities. They exaggerate stories that can create moral panic and this can also be seen as a way of checkling how the public behaves. Racial profiling is associated with the media due to people seeing mostly blacks committed crimes. Mass media can control the outcome of criminal cases by brainwashing the jurors, controlling the verdict of the case. The human relationship between media and crime creates strong influence on the publics view of crime and the criminal justice system, overall having a power influence on both. 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