Term report to explore criminological themes in the media

Criminological Themes in the Media

An Analysis of Five News Articles

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Introduction

There have been different theories to explain the nature and motivation of crime . The ordinary man 's access to crime is through the media considered by many as a window to the world (Newburn , 2001 . In contrast , some observers have pointed out that media is more often than not , an exaggerated representation of crime

, prone to sensationalism and infotainment . In this manner , media has become agreeably the greatest source of our knowledge and our fears

This presents an analysis of five recent news articles presented in descending , exploring how criminological theories are used in each , including the differences or intersections of crime and criminology as applied in theory and the objectivity of crime analysis in the articles

Article 1 : Conn . man was on a 'suicide mission ' cops say

MSNBC , July 9 , 2009

NBC covered a story about a Connecticut man who held his ex-wife hostage and burned her house down while threatening to kill her and himself . The perpetrator , Richard Shenkman , 60 , is reported to be on a suicide mission . His ex-wife , Tyler , managed to escape and Shenkman was thereafter charged with kidnapping , arson , reckless endangerment and the illegal discharge of a weapon . The news article provided a detailed account of Shenkman 's many frustrations and a history of angry and...