Victims of.. media?

It is evident that the public’s perception of crime is largely based upon how it is portrayed in the media. I admit that I, like many others, fall victim to the media’s often exaggerated crime stories which tend to blur the lines between reality and fiction.

My own consumption of media news is very mainstream; I watch the 6 o’clock news most nights which I sometimes regretfully follow up with Today Tonight (often promoting the latest diets and styling tips!), and regularly browse through the Sunday Telegraph of a weekend. Being a criminology student I realised I definitely need to pick my act up and so I have started off the semester by broadening my sources of crime and media news.

I’m particularly drawn to fictional crime shows a favourite being criminal minds, purely due to the entertainment derived from the constant twists and mind games. But I’m also fortunate enough to have the crime channel on foxtel which provides me with an array of programmes ranging from quite boring police procedures, to horrific murders told by America’s worst criminals themselves. A particular documentary on the crime channel which I watched only recently documented a group of teenage boys from America who made a series of movies called ‘Bumfights’ which exploited the homeless by getting them to fight each other or commit humiliating acts in exchange for a small amount of money or alcohol. I couldn’t understand how these teenagers found this even remotely funny and how they managed to think anyone would actually watch or even buy these movies. But since 2001 when these videos began, 6.8 million similar videos have been sold.

It’s clear that the media has great influence over not only the publics’ perception of criminal behaviour but also offenders and victims too. With that said, the media is able to form stereotypes of these people, whom society marginalises, whom we are wary of. Has the media contributed to this discrimination of the homeless, making it ok for them to be treated like dogs when they are at their lowest and genuinely need help not a supply of alcohol to support a possible addiction?

Though I have gone on quite a tangent, I thought it was interesting to address these videos as it questions two different perceptions on crime, its seen as humorous entertainment and fun to the makers of ‘Bumfights’ and possibly to many who bought the movies, but then another side sees it as immoral, as a criminal offence, almost a hate crime. What creates this difference? Is it personal opinion or media influence?


S. Walshe (2010) Hate Crimes Against the Homeless, The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/aug/20/homeless-bum-fight-hate-crime