Making Headlines the coverage of crime in the media

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Making Headlines the coverage of crime in the
media
A very brief overview from a monitoring and
human rights perspective
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Introduction

• About the MMP
• Human rights NGO monitoring the media
  since 1993
• Conducted over 100 media monitoring projects
• Race (SAHRC, CSVR), Elections
• Gender (GMBS, GMMP, 16 Days)
• Children (ECM)
• HIV (WITS, MAP) AND Crime

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Headlines

• Gillies cold blooded killer gets life term
• Evidence child was molested - doctor
• Serial rapist is jailed for 20 years
• Officer shot, pistol taken
• Guard shot during armed robbery
• Teacher,assassins jailed for life
• Two in dock over ranger-training death
• Robbed by traffic officers
• Mystery surrounds slaying of Lenasia couple
• Cop accused of killing girl still working.

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Making crime news

• Reporting crime vast area of research.
• Highlight the following key human rights areas
• Race and crime
• Gender and crime
• Children and crime
• A special case.

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Racing crime - from black white to xenophobia

• Significant shift in media coverage since
  democracy
• Whites - victims vs. Blacks - perpetrators
• Racial identifiers were common, then indirect
  now unlikely Exceptions
• Race crimes make big news
• Rise of tabloids and xenophobia in the media
  some blatantly xenophobic. Implications for
  democracy?

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Engendering crime - from

• Some shifts in media coverage of gender based
  crimes since democracy
• Gender violence lovers tiff and women to
  blame for being raped - rare
• Gender bias continues mens culpability often
  reduced, and invented trend of black widows
• Clear increase in coverage of gender based
  violence but limited forms and often extreme.

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Children and crime

• Child abuse especially sexual extensive
• Stories of extremes make the news. Graphic
  detail and gendered
• 1 in ten stories on child abuse violates
  childrens rights, (privacy and dignity)
• Roles of media in protecting children.

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Criminal reporting
Breaks the law
Violates childs rights
Xenophobic
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Media and crime - special case

• Murder of David Rattray, 3 key issues
• Crime is key issue in SA, imperative that media
  cover it
• Rattray murder tragedy used to highlight a
  response to government and the president

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Media and crime - special case

• Rattray personal story events, eulogies,
  funeral, speedy justice
• Other headlines
• No-one is safe any more B.Day
• We are at war with ourselves S.Times
• Crime (is) out of control Sowetan
• Ja, dit is so erg, 400 000 SMSe teen misdaad
  Beeld

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Media and crime - special case

• Crime stories were used as means of driving an
  editorial point of view by some newspapers.
• Often this only occurs in editorial sections -
  challenges common assumption of balanced and fair
  criteria used to select news

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Media and crime - special case

• Need for research. General trends in reporting
• Coverage is extensive, consistent in all media
• Crime makes good news
• Seldom explanation of crime stories,
• Often tends to focus on events or incidents
• Seldom follow-up stories - except high profile
  cases (Leigh Matthews David Rattray)
• Police and court officials most common sources.

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Media and crime - special case

• Conclusion
• Need for research on coverage of crime by the
  media
• In combatting crime
• What is the impact of reading crime stories on
  audiences, on journalists?
• How can we encourage reporting that promotes
  human rights?

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Thank you
www.mediamonitoring.org.za
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Monitoring the media

• Why do we monitor the media?
• Unacceptably high levels of crime. In particular,
  violent crime, gender based violence and child
  abuse
• A role of the media Report all the issues
• MMP Analyse and assess how the issues are
  reported.