The Media & Crime (Years 10–11) — Sociology

The media shapes public views of crime through moral panics and folk devils, often exaggerating certain threats.

Most people learn about crime not from experience but from the media: news, television, film and social media. Because the media chooses what to report and how, it strongly shapes what the public thinks about crime.

Why this matters If the media exaggerates a threat, people may fear crime far more than the real risk. This can lead to unfair treatment of particular groups and to laws made in a hurry. Reading the media critically is a key life skill.

How the media selects crime

The media does not report all crime equally. It tends to focus on stories that are dramatic, unusual or shocking, because these attract audiences. As a result:

Rare, violent crimes are over-reported, while common crimes get little attention.
The picture the public receives can be very different from the official statistics.
People may believe crime is rising even when it is not.

Moral panics

A moral panic is a wave of public alarm about a group or behaviour that the media presents as a threat to society. The reaction is often out of proportion to the real danger. Once the panic fades, another may take its place.

The media selects and frames an event, which can build into a moral panic and lead to a folk devil being blamed.

Folk devils

During a moral panic, the media may identify a folk devil: a group blamed and presented as the villains of the story. This can unfairly label whole groups of people, especially the young, and lead to them being treated with suspicion.

Common exam mistake: using ‘moral panic’ and ‘folk devil’ as if they mean the same thing. A moral panic is the wave of public alarm itself; a folk devil is the specific group blamed as its villain. Every folk devil appears within a moral panic, but the two terms describe different parts of the process.

Effects and evaluation

The media's coverage can have real effects:

It can increase fear of crime, particularly among those least at risk.
It can pressure politicians to act quickly, sometimes without good evidence.
It can, through labelling, actually deepen the deviance it condemns, as a group treated as villains may live up to that image.

Evaluating the media's role

We should be careful not to blame the media for everything. People do not simply believe whatever they read; they weigh it against their own experience and the views of family and friends. Even so, for crimes we never witness, the media is often our main source of information, so its choices about what to report and whom to blame carry real weight.

Exam technique: name the sociologist Stanley Cohen and his study of Mods and Rockers when discussing moral panics — a named, classic study strengthens an answer far more than describing the concept in the abstract.

A critical reader always asks: is this coverage fair, is it in proportion, and who is being blamed?