Police and New Media

When I was taking notes in Alyce’s last lecture on Monday (18/10/10), I wrote the name Adam Purcell, with an asterisk and “USE FOR LAST BLOG”. This name I have not heard of until that day, I became intrigued and have intently researched him ever since. As Chan et al. said “internet technologies have transformed the nature of mass media” (2010, p. 582). Not only am I able to gain up-to-date recent articles surrounding Purcell, but numerous photos, and personal information all at the click of a button. Chan et al. (2010) also highlights how the advancements of the internet have greatly affected criminal justice agencies such as police, courts and government organisations. For this blog, the NSW police force in relation to new media will be the explicit example analysed. Marsh and Melville outline the mass media’s revolution of information because of the proliferation of the internet (2008, p. 155).

The emergence of new media in relation to NSW Police can be seen through their active engagement with social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube which helps identify suspects. In terms of national comparison they are leading the way in direct regard to their popularity and support throughout Facebook has increased at such a rapid pace, they now have a general NSW Police Force page (which as at 22/10/10, they had 20,953 followers) and a NSW Police Homicide Squad page (which as at 22/10/10, they had 2,534 followers). With the Head of Public Affairs running the Twitter site and the Head of Corporate Communications running their Facebook site, obviously new media are having some beneficial outcomes for the Police Force, as resources would not be spent facilitating these forms of new media otherwise.

Research being concurrently conducted by McGovern et al. surrounding key stakeholders within NSW Police Force; suggest that Police utilize new media to their benefit in the following ways; as a way of reaching communities, and especially youths. As a means of giving and receiving information to and from public that would otherwise be transferred throughout a media outlet such as a press release, radio updates or even a breaking news segment. The dissemination of information is instantaneous through the internet and therefore the Police can update the public on a more regular basis. Operational benefits, being that longer duration of time and space can be given to stories rather than a brief 30sec clip on the news. And lastly, the Police Force make use of new media as a direct way of calculating public relations in terms of how they are represented, what they are doing and the ongoing benefits to the wider community.

References

Chan, J., Goggin, G. and Bruce, J., 2010, Internet technologies and criminal justice, in Jewkes, Y. and Yar, M., 2010, Handbook of internet crime, Willian Publishing, Devon, pp. 582-596.

Marsh, I. and Melville, G., 2008, Crime, justice and the media. Routledge, Milton Park and New York.

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Carl Williams

Just a few short videos to set the scene. Unfortunetly, uploading them wasn’t working so here are the links :)

Pay particular attention to Homicide Detective Bernie Edwards media release focusing rather on what he doesn’t say then what he does.

http://media.theage.com.au/williams-bashed-with-exercise-bike-1339034.html

Co-author of ‘Underbelly’ and Senior Crime Writer, Andrew Rule and his rather subjective reflections on Carl Williams.

http://media.theage.com.au/carl-williams-had-it-coming-1338750.html

Police Reporter, Paul Millar when Matthew Johnson (name unknown at this time) is being tried in Geelong Magistrates court.

http://media.theage.com.au/williams-murder-suspect-appears-in-court-1340878.html

After much speculation and many un-evidenced rumours, Carl Williams accused ‘killer’ (for lack of a better word) Matthew Johnson has had two suppression orders lifted that were in place in order to keep his name and identity private removed. Many legal notions or concepts have been brought to the forefront throughout this case, which in turn have been analysed throughout the course of this semester; the high-profile drug trade that could otherwise be recognised as organised crime (which underpinned the reality television series ‘Underbelly’), death within custody and the many legal ramifications that they possess, victim and offender statuses in direct relation to the media and the media representations of imprisonment in relation to the criticisms of the Barwon Victorian Corrections facility in where Williams was sentenced and later killed.

Carl Williams’s former wife will look to sue the Corrections Victoria, because although the brutal basing was caught on CCTV within the prison facility, it took an estimated twenty-five minutes for the guards to contact Williams and at which point he had suffered a cardiac arrest which led to his death. Now I pose the question that how is that effective ‘protection’ or ‘guarding’ perse when the closed circuit television (CCTV) within the prison record an incident, which we assume someone is monitoring, yet no one attended to Williams for a further twenty-five minutes at which point they only did so because another inmate had told the guards that Williams required checking in on. What is the point of having CCTV cameras when events like these brutal bashings take place and no attends? Surely the high profile of Carl Williams has to fashion extra attention from the guards? Does that mean that if a prisoner were to attempt to escape the guards would not approach this scene instantly? Somehow, I don’t think so.

Numerous media reports can be shown quoting that guards were too busy playing a recreational game of cricket whilst Williams was being killed.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/04/19/2876669.htm

http://media.theage.com.au/national/breaking-news/carl-williams-dies-in-prison-1338078.html

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/high-security-prison-guards-caught-out-in-carl-williams-investigation/story-e6frg12c-1225940551370

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/high-security-prison-guards-caught-out-in-carl-williams-investigation/story-e6freuy9-1225940468614

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/high-security-prison-guards-caught-out-in-carl-williams-investigation/story-e6frf7kx-1225940391445

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/carl-williams-was-labelled-a-killer-and-a-cowardly-one-by-supreme-court-justice-betty-king-when-she-sentenced-him-to-35-years-jail-in-2007/story-e6frf7kx-1225855564881

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/carl-williams-death-accused-matthew-johnson-named/story-e6freuy9-1225940635701

‘Perth Now’ utterly sensationalises this report by saying ‘the Herald Sun understands stumps were drawn at the time of his slaying, on April 19.’ Humorously using cricket rhetoric ‘stumps’ whilst combining the term ‘slaying’ which instantly brings negative connotations to one’s thoughts, depicts both the barbaric attempts of reporting to receive readership which in turn boosts profits.

That phrase is strikingly contrasted to not only the next paragraph, but the next sentence of the article which mentions “There is believed to be no indication the cricket matches were a factor in the murder of Williams”. I found this entirely misleading and rather ironic, that they would disagree with themselves amongst their own report.

Williams was sentenced to jail for 37 years to one of Australia’s highest security prisons in May 2007 after being branded by the media as a ‘serial killer’. He was sentenced for the killing of drug rivals Lewis and Jason Moran and drug dealer Mark Mallia. It can now be reported that Williams also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to murder underworld lawyer Mario Condello in 2004, putting up about $150,000 for the failed plot. Condello was killed more than a year later. Justice King sentenced Williams to three life sentences. King was recorded saying Williams didn't pull the trigger in the murders, but his role as "counsellor and procurer'' was even more heinous.

The murder of a Carl Williams in prison is a poignant example of the state failing in their duty of care.

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Fear of Crime

Within fear of crime (FOC) literature there is a presupposition that a direct causal relationship exists between mass media consumption and the perceived FOC levels reported by individuals. Directly linking print media, namely newspapers and FOC in a causal relationship is complex and at times impractical. A prolific amount of study conducted by criminologists, over the last four decades suggests the mass media report only on those issues that are deemed newsworthy, therefore devoting a great deal of the news space to the criminal justice system and in particular sensational violent crimes such as murder, rape and physical assaults (Jewkes, 2004; Cohen, 1972, p. 17; Lee, 2007, p.2; Greer, 2009, p. 202; Chibnall, 1977; Mawby, 2010; Marsh & Melville, 2009, p. 1). FOC can be defined as a “concept used to explain a range of psychological and/or social reactions to the perceived or symbolic threat of crime” (Lee, 2007, p.2). As mass media is forever expanding and as the content is available to consumers almost immediately, the distinction between newsworthiness and factual is at times blurred (Marsh & Melville, 2009, p. 1).

(Begin video at 5.32 - 8.54) - Media Watch - The Ghost Road to Responsible Reporting

Media Watch is a program developed by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), that analyses the “manipulation and misrepresentations” portrayed by any given news source, where it be, print or visual, as an attempt to display and dissect the factual content behind the story, whilst humorously disaccrediting the original source.

The Daily Telegraph released an article dated August 2, 2010, ‘Sydney erupts with 3 shootings in 6 hours’ which was designed to create a sense of fear towards crime as a ‘man was gunned down in broad daylight’ and ‘drive-by style shooting’ whilst creating a novel, sensationalised and simplified news report for the consumers (Chibnall, 1977, as cited in Greer, 2009, p. 205; Mawby, 2010). The attempt of this report was to achieve heightened fears among those residents of “Roberts Park as it has a notorious reputation in the area as yesterday's shooting was the third time someone has been shot there in less than three weeks”.

"With violent crime on the rise it's frightening to realise that they (Police) may not attend when you call” (Adelaide Now, 14 Sept 2010, ‘Youth arrested over elderly women’s death’). This claim made by Adelaide Now is entirely misleading, which in turn significantly impacts the public view of the generation being investigated, namely youths.

As previously mentioned, due to the mass media overstating the seriousness and the perceived risk of victimisation, Gerbner believed that heavy consumption of these misrepresentations cultivate a higher level of FOC. Furthermore, frequent viewers of television are more likely to believe that they might become crime victims – particularly of violence – than light television viewers (Greer, 2009, p. 420). Interestingly, the low-market tabloid readers which reported the most crime also recorded the highest levels of fear.

Similarly, Lee concurred that print media should not be ignored as a “site of power”, as there is a strong intersection between what and how the media reports in regard to crime (2007, p. 192). He made further implications that those who consume the sensationalised crime stories, their FOC levels are dependent on their lived experiences and cultural context rather than specifically the consumption of the media (p. 193), and that rather than producing FOC within an individual it increases the concern for politicians and public policy agencies. As FOC has now come to be regarded as a major social problem in and of itself.

Greer’s argument that fearful citizens tend to be depoliticised and therefore are more dependent on established authority ties in with McRobbie and Thornton’s hypothesis that where once moral panics were the “unintended outcomes of journalistic practice”, they are now a form of rhetoric utilised by politicians to make a variety of matters newsworthy and to make citizens more dependent on the government bodies (Greer, 2009, p. 2; McRobbie and Thornton 1995, p. 560). The more fearful people are of crime the easier is it to create public policy within the government surrounding these issues. For example, at the height of the previous election, parties were seen promising to increase police numbers, by “up to sixteen-hundred extra uniformed police officers” (Austin, The Age, April 6 2010). This is seen by the public as taking preventative methods in reducing the amount of crime (Lee, 2007, p. 187), but whether it was just a ploy to receive the voters’ choice is highly debated.

References

Austin, P., 2010, ‘Coalition election focus on crime and safety’, The Age, 6 April,

< http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/coalition-election-focus-on-crime-and-safety-20100405-rn48.html>

Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 2010, ‘Media watch’. viewed 22 September 2010,

http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch >

Chibnall, S. 1977. Law and order: An analysis of crime reporting in the British press. Cambridge University Press, London.

Greer, C. 2009. Crime and Media: A Reader. Routledge, London.

Jewkes, Y. 2004. Media and crime. Sage Publications, London.

Lee, M. 2007. Inventing fear of crime: Criminology and the politics of anxiety. Willan Publishing, Portland Oregon.

Marsh, I. and Melville, G., 2008. Crime, justice and the media. Routledge, Milton Park and New York

Mawby, R. 2010, ‘Police corporate communications, crime reporting and the shaping of policing news’, Policing and Society, 20 (1): 124-139.

McRobbie, A., and Thornton, S. (1995), ‘Rethinking moral panic for multi-mediated social worlds’, British Journal of Sociology, 46 (4): 559-574.

‘Sydney erupts with 3 shootings in 6 hours’, The Daily Telegraph, 2 August, 2010,

< http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/sydney-erupts-with-3-shootings-in-6-hours/story-e6freuy9-1225899755663

‘Youth arrested over elderly woman's death’, Adelaide Now, 14 September, 2010,

< http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/breaking-news/youth-arrested-over-elderly-womans-death/story-e6frea73-1225922794052

Traditional views of crime reporting can be dated as far back to the two founding fathers of sociology, Karl Marx and Emile Durkheim, in that crime reporting is highly critical and extremely selective (Greer, 2009, p. 201). Upon analysing any criminological theory or crime, media and political nexus, victims and offenders alike, cannot be left out of the discussion process. The claim of a victim status can be influenced by many things such as social divisions within class, race, ethnicity, gender and age. This blog will focus specifically on the social divisions within class and gender and the role the media play in determining the deserving or undeserving victim and how they deem victims to be considered newsworthy.

A prolific example of these media values can be seen through the recent controversy between a former David Jones publicist Kristy Fraser-Kirk and the former CEO Mark McInnes. The obvious distinctions in gender with the accused being male, victim being female, fits into an idealistic criminal event. And one can assume that criminological experts would consider the social divide that exists between the pair is also imperative consideration.

Ms Fraser-Kirk is suing David Jones, nine directors and the store's former chief executive Mark McInnes, under the Trade Practices Act 1974 (CTH) and the Fair Trading Act 1987 (NSW), claiming he made unwelcome sexual advances to her.

The media selectivity surrounding this case tended to be quite subjective, dramatic and utterly sensationalised with examples like McInnes “fleeing the country with his pregnant girlfriend” and “following two months he'd rather forget” Therefore Fraser-Kirk, could be seen as the ‘ideal’ victim as she contains most of the attributions that Marsh and Melville outline such as the status of the victim being vulnerable, defenceless, innocent and worthy of sympathy and compassion (2009, p.128).

As previously stated, most of our conceptions of crime are received through the media and as the state acts on behalf of the victim as soon as the allegations are made, sometimes the victims become a forgotten facet of the criminal justice system. The media hope to attain articulation in the victim’s pain, suffering and confusion in a newsworthy fashion so that others can attach some meaning to the victim or the family of the victim. The newsworthiness of this crime increases significantly if the victim or members of the family weep on camera, or express their pain dramatically in words (Chermak, 1995). Reiner also mentioned that we hear a lot more about victims and their point of views than we ever have (2000). This can be seen through Kristy receiving a considerable amount of backlash from the public as she is seeking compensation and punitive damages of up to $37 million, which in the eyes of some, is quite excessive. The negative effects on the victim have become obvious, with "The release of her image and identity to the media without her permission compromising the trust Ms Fraser-Kirk had that her employer would treat her complaint with respect," with SMH also saying she has become so anxious she spends most of her time inside her apartment with the blinds drawn so that no one can photograph her” and the unwanted “media attention had produced physical repercussions, such as light-headedness, dizziness, clamminess, shakiness, tension, followed by exhaustion”. Kristy Fraser-Kirk 'stays in the dark' to avoid media "Ms Fraser-Kirk stated that she has experienced acute episodes of vomiting, diarrhoea, loss of appetite, weight loss and sleep impairment.

The extent that both the public and the media have picked on this case can be seen through Fraser-Kirk comprising her own website containing statements of claims, press releases, specific media articles and contact details for the hotline set up by Kristy Fraser-Kirk for any David Jones employees, past or present, who wish to have a confidential discussion in relation to inappropriate behaviour at David Jones. This media attention could be viewed as a positive because it has helped other women who were also allegedly victimised by Mark McInnes to speak out. Examples such as these reiterate the important status of a victim and allowing them to speak out can in some ways help the case at hand more than hinder it as previously hypothesised.

References

Chermak, S. 1995. ‘Victims in the News: Crime and the American News Media.’ Westview Press, United States.

Greer, C. 2009. ‘Crime and Media: A Reader.’ Routledge, London.

Marsh, I. and Melville, G. 2009. ‘Crime, Justice and the Media 1st ed.’ Routledge, London.

The Perfect Holiday

In preparation for this blog, I was reading James Hume’s blog post, dated 20 August, 2010, as he delineates imprisonment within an Australian context. He stated that the prison system could be separated into two extremes from a media perspective; “prison as a holiday camp, or prison as dangerous and violent.” The main aim of his argument was to analyse the latter, and therefore I will contrast this blog to focus on the dull, mundane and at times ‘holiday like’ perception the public receive purely from the media in regard to the prison system within Australia. As reinforced by Alyce throughout this semester, factual depictions and representations of the criminal justice system are hard to come by, and in turn, most information the public are subject to, is derived from the media (Marsh and Melville, 2009, p.128). Yousman believed that whilst cases such as the Carl Williams death in prison as mentioned by Hume receive some media attention, the real experiences of those in prison and the conditions in which they live, are inadequately detailed through the media (2009, p.9).

As prisons remain one of the most hidden facets of the criminal justice system, the coverage throughout the media ultimately comes down to the discretion of the guards and/or ex-prisoners who speak out upon release. This ultimately leads to the common myth that prison guards are corrupt as Detailed in the Sydney Morning Heralds report ‘ICAC slams prison security’ on August 1, 2010. It analysed the 6th Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) investigation in regard to security standards within NSW prisons and particularly contraband trafficking by prison officers. The ICAC found that “senior corrections officer Sebastian Wade had supplied prisoners at John Morony Correctional Centre in Windsor with drugs and other contraband for up to $1000 for each delivery.” With Corrective Services Commissioner Ron Woodham saying there had been a ''total breakdown of procedures'' at Windsor. The ICAC found security measures with NSW prisons “seriously deficient”. A former prisoner who spoke to The Sun-Herald confirmed “To put it simply, it's not very hard to get anything inside. The drugs are shared with close friends”.

As outlined by the Sydney Morning Herald, An investigation into a Queensland work camp, which closed after a former prisoner claimed inmates had easy access to drugs, pornography, mobile phones and were allowed out unsupervised, affirms the notion or the misconception rather, that prisons are holiday like. The former inmate had claimed life inside the Innisfail prison work camp, was "better than being on the dole” with comfortable conditions including air conditioning, flat screen televisions, DVDs and access to pay TV. "I couldn't believe it was happening, it was an absolute holiday camp," he told The Cairns Post. Is this the daily functioning of the prison that we, the public have little too no access of or is this a ploy by a former inmate to gain media coverage and attention.

Finally, I would like to go back to the core purposes of the criminal justice system and in particular the prison system in which their main outcomes are deterrence, rehabilitation and/or punishment. In respect to the ABS figures reported in SMH’s article dated August 30, 2010, Australia’s prisons are not being presented as a deterrent because of the amount of people that reoffend, with “Re-imprisonment strongly associated with being young, being indigenous or having been previously imprisoned with the re-imprisonment rate being highest in the Northern Territory, where about 68 per cent of prisoners had been jailed before. These recidivism rates also deny the facet of rehabilitation and punishment. I would like to conclude by posing a multiple of questions in response to Hume’s blog. If the harsh media portrayals of prisons could be viewed as a deterrent, why in Australia’s case, are the recidivism rates so high for male and especially indigenous males? This leads me to believe that prison could be easier for some people and is not about time Australia’s criminal justice system provide adequate assistance to convicted individuals upon their release to assist their integration back into society by providing practical life skills, educating them to live a life free from criminal activity? And how without these necessary skills are individuals expected to live outside of the institution?

Reference List

Hume, J., 2010, ‘How the mainstream media has distorted the actualities of prison life’

Kennedy, L., 2010, ‘ICAC slams prison security’, Sydney Morning Herald, 20 August 2010,

Marsh, I. and Melville, G. (2009). ‘Crime, Justice and the Media’ 1st ed. Routledge, London.

‘No evidence of drug use at prison camp’, Sydney Morning Herald, 14 September 2010, 20100914-15a35.html>

‘Re-offending rates up: prison study’, Sydney Morning Herald, 30 August 2010,

Schwarten, E., 2010, ‘No evidence of drug use at prison camp’, Sydney Morning Herald, 3 September 2010,

Yousman, B. (2009) ‘Prime time prisons on U.S TV: Representation of incarceration, Peter Lang Publishing, New York, (Online) s+of+prison&hl=en&ei=_NJsTP6iKMqHcfnayZUN&sa=X&>