It's Reality...Just not that Real

The media does not want to show you the whole truth (Marsh and Melville, 2009). The truth, to be quite honest, is pretty boring, especially when it comes to something like border patrol. Sure, now and then you hit something exciting like a drug trafficker or somebody trying to smuggle in their favourite chunk of raw overseas meat, but in the grand scheme of things, quarantine appears quite a dull job. Ruffling through peoples bags and finding nothing does not exactly make for an exciting television show. So now and then the media finds it needs to bend the truth a little, especially shows marketed as reality television.

Border Patrol is a popular reality television show, where quarantine folks go through people’s bags and mail and whatnot on camera. There are many exciting finds on this show, ranging from small crimes such as gun shaped cigarette lighters to some woman trying to bring in live bugs to eat to cure her migraines. This seems to give off the impression that being a quarantine officer is a rather glorious job, full of exciting moments. However, it fails, quite understandably, to show the many hundreds of people who walk through quarantine with no drama.

RBT is another show that would be rather dull if they showed every part of the job. People breath tested are shifty or obnoxious and often extremely drink, many times over the legal alcohol limit. Again, the many hundreds of people who drive past and do not exhibit any dodgy behaviour or blow some ridiculous blood alcohol level are not shown. Only the six or so who do are, yet this is what is portrayed as reality and the brunt of public exposure to such occupations.

In a way, reality television glorifies crimefighting, even in rather mundane situations like quarantine and random breath tests. Of course, there are the shows that up the ante, but most seem to focus on parts that should, when you think about it, be quite boring. This goes to show how easy it can be to put a spin on things to make them more appealing to a general audience (Smolej, 2010). By concentrating on only the exciting bits, however minor part of the job that is, interest can be sparked as suddenly an extremely boring job is made a whole lot more dramatic and exciting.

Marsh, I., Melville, G., 2009, Crime, Justice and the Media, Routledge, New York

Smolej, M., 2010, ‘Constructing ideal victims? Violence narratives in Finnish crime-appeal programming’, Crime Media Culture, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 69-85

Oh the Perils of Being Young and Dumb

Every week it seems a new p-plater gets in some horrific accident, does something stupid or kills themselves, their friends or some innocent third party. We appear to be on the verge of collapse as we are inundated with hooligans on our roads who really do not give two hoots about the law and simply do not understand the chaos and devastation they can create. Our children are all dying because they can’t drive properly!

Well, not really. This is a moral panic whipped up by the media. Stanley Cohen was the guy that invented the term moral panic. He says in his 1973 book that it happens when something emerges and is identified and defined as a threat to societal values and interests.

Currently, p-platers are certainly seen to be a threat to societal values and interests. For a start, they are usually younger people under 25, a group that has always been a target. Add a deadly thing like a car and high speed and you have a heady mix of scandal and drama that is perfect for the modern media.

After a series of highly publicised incidents involving deaths of or resulting from p-plate drivers law enforcement’s changed its policies in dealing with p-platers. Tougher laws were made and p-platers faced increased criminalisation. Suddenly, you weren’t allowed to drive your mates home past 11 o’clock and if you happened to get a cop having a bad day, speeding 1km can mean you kiss your license goodbye. It also became much harder to become a p-plater in the first place, with introduction of 120 driving hours when on your learner’s license.

Aside from clearly showing that the politicians like to listen to the media and what the media recommends, as opposed to what experts would, it also shows that the media is like a dog with a bone. Though they got the tougher laws they want, it is still not enough. The Daily Telegraph runs a daily I Promise campaign, where various people, often teenagers, are paraded about promising to be perfect safe drivers. You can even buy a bumper sticker. This just goes to show it is more about the story than the results.

The fact is p-platers lack experience and are bound to get into more trouble than experienced drivers. The extremely high levels of concern whipped up by the media caused a moral panic, making the problem seem much worse than it is. P-platers seem to be killing themselves and others at an alarming rate, but really, that is not very plausible.

Cohen, S., 1973, Folk Devils and Moral Panics, Routledge, Canada

Linnell, G., 2010, "I Promise: Our Campaign", Daily Telegraph , accessed 21st Oct 2010 http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ipromise

Provisional (P1) Driver License, RTA, 2010, accessed 21st Oct 2010, http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/licensing/gettingalicence/car/provisional_licence.html

Cops are Cool Too!

Cops are getting pretty swanky these days. Chan, Goggin and Bruce (2010) seemed pretty impressed that they started using the internet and declared it was quite the innovative way of utilising new media to be more accessible and efficient. However, going beyond that, police these days have evolved much beyond mere use of the internet. That’s old news. Going on the NSW Police website, you will notice if you scroll down that they want you to like them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter or watch them on Youtube. They really are taking advantage of all the mediums new media have to offer.

Looking at their Twitter page, it seems to be mainly a huge collection of links to press releases. That would be rather handy, I daresay, for your reporter who is on a tight schedule. One only needs to subscribe to the police twitter account to be instantly up to date with whatever new statements they have to say on the matter. Their Facebook page contains a mixed variety of things. Everything from campaign videos, campaign images and other photos to congratulation messages for new recruits can be found there. Another handy way to spread the word, especially if somebody likes this group and gets live feeds of updates! Youtube videos on the police channel also have the usual campaign videos and video press releases. However, scattered throughout the videos is also a whole bunch that show police in action, glorious images of arrests and drug seizures.

Using new media like these may seem a bit like a weird idea. Why can’t cops just go out and do some policing already? Why are they wasting time with this airy fairy stuff? Well the fact is, police have an image to protect (Marsh and Melville, 2009). Look at many developing nations where there is absolutely no trust of the police because their images are so tarnished. Do you think anybody will want to report a crime to them? While we probably aren’t ever going to be in such dire circumstances, it certainly doesn’t hurt to polish up the image a little. Public trust means public co-operation.

There’s also the fact that new media makes everything so convenient. If you have a press release, you can just stick it on Youtube and everybody can see what you have to say. You don’t have to rely on making it on the evening news or anything like that. Also written press releases are available immediately on Twitter – certainly helps getting those pesky reporters off your back!

New media provides great mediums for police to communicate. I, for one, am glad they are tapping into these. It shows me that they bother to get with the times and make things so much more accessible.

Chan, J., Goggin, G., Bruce, J., 2010, Internet Technologies and Criminal Justice, in Jewkes, Y., Yar, M., 2010, Handbook of Internet Crime, Willan Publishing, Devon, pp. 582-596
Marsh, I., Melville, G. 2009, Crime Justice and the Media, Routledge, United Kingdom

Somebody Save the Children!

Flipping through any newspaper, surfing any news channel or website, listening to any radio news update, I always hear about some crime or suspected crime committed against a child. That is then coupled with their parents’ grief and the community’s shock and horror that somebody would do such a thing to such an innocent little person. If it happens to be a visual medium, it will probably be accompanied by an adorable photo of said child. Since they are supposed to be the most innocent and vulnerable members of our ever heartless society, they are naturally a top choice for victim characterisation.

When a child is involved, a media frenzy will ensue. Unless something happens to top that, chances are it will be all you hear about for as long as there is something to squeeze out of the situation. Every single little aspect of the case will be scrutinised, to minute precision, or so it will seem. Smolej (2010) studied a bunch of episodes in a Finnish police drama and noticed that in the creation of child victims, it is never ever the fault of the child that whatever misfortune befell them. Instead, it will inevitably be put down to innocence and naivety on their part – not just plain stupidity as it often will be.

Take Keisha Abrahams. I am under the impression that it is not physically possible in the modern world not to at least know of the young girl that disappeared in Sydney’s west. Every aspect of an emotional drama is present in the press coverage of events. First, photos of the angelic face of Keisha is plastered everywhere. Curly blond hair, sweet smile and big eyes, and the very picture of cherubic innocence and cuteness, the pictures are a clear indication that she is an ideal, totally blameless victim. Then there is the highly emotive rendition of the experience of her mother and the community. With titles such as “I’ll Never Give Up on You Keisha”, the media not only tells you the anguish of the mother, but also the community who is constantly praying for her. This lets us regular people empathise with the situation. We are hit with this emotion and we feel like we are part of the tragic events. Then last, but certainly not least, is the constant barrage of drama of new developments in the case. Hunting for bodies in bags and human remains in bushes, it makes the case not just a tragic tale, but also a bit of a mystery thriller. The Keisha Abrahams story gives the perfect backdrop for a great story, all centred around a child victim.

More and more, victims are the focus of the media. That way you feel more connected with the story and get sucked right in. Add a bit of drama and you have the perfect concoction for an ideal media story, even if it doesn’t really hit the mark when it comes to the actual circumstances.

Klein, N., Bevan, E., Cuneo, C., 2010, ‘ New Twist in Hunt for Missing Kiesha Abrahams as Police Hunt Body in Bag’, Herald Sun, 7^th Sept, accessed 14^th Oct, http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/new-twist-in-hunt-for-missing-kiesha-abrahams-as-police-hunt-body-in-bag/story-e6frf7l6-1225915034033

Mullins, L., 2010, ‘I’ll Never Give up on you, Kiesha’, Mt Druitt St Marys Standard, 22^nd Sept, accessed 14^th Oct, http://mt-druitt-standard.whereilive.com.au/news/story/ill-never-give-up-on-you-kiesha/

 Smolej, M., 2010, ‘Constructing ideal victims? Violence narratives in Finnish crime-appeal programming’, Crime Media Culture, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 69-85

Tarasov, 2010, ‘Search for Human Remains in Bush’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 6^th Sept, accessed 24^th Sept, http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/search-for-human-remains-in-bush-20100906-14wud.html?autostart=1