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“The police beat are all about people, what makes them tick, what makes them become heroes or homicidal maniacs. It has it all greed, sex, violence, comedy and tragedy” (Buchanan, E “A coaching method”). This comment from former Miami Herald police reporter, Edna Buchanan further emphasises the theory that the mass media worldwide thrives on stories which sell; Sex, violence and tragedy sell. It is the stories relating to crime, which holds all of these attributes as well as the ones mentioned by Edna Buchanan. So it is not surprising, that on a daily basis we are bombarded with crime stories. It is essential to have an understanding on the manner in which crime is reported in New Zealand, as many of us have an idealistic view on the media seeing it as an ‘education eye on the country’ which tells it like it is. Unfortunately this is not often the case. With every action, there are always consequences, large and small. The media and the way in which they report crime stories has many potential consequences, which affect New Zealander’s understanding of crime and criminality. Crime is represented in many ways from factual representations shown in the news and documentaries, to fictional in television dramas, films and novels. For the purpose of the essay topic I will concentrate on crime in a ‘factual sense’ within the New Zealand media. In 1998 ‘Manning’ summarised our society as he sees it today in that “we live in a media sub-fused world. Media surrounds and saturates us” he goes on to say that the way in which the producers and editors within the media industry choose to report the news (or in some cases choose not to) shapes the ‘receiver’s’ (of the reports) perceptions on reality. When it comes to ‘crime’, the relationship between crime and media is a complex one. While on one hand the media works to help the police in-regards to solving crimes, they also have an obligation to themselves as a ‘company’ which must return a profit.
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