Media and Its Influence on Criminal Justice Policy

A closer look at the way, in which specific information is represented in news and media will reveal that the latter, in fact, use framing techniques in order to shed light on particular issues and, thus, affect peoples perception of a certain problem. Consequently, an appropriate aspect is reinforced to facilitate the safety of the community. For instance, the recent concern about child abuse has resulted in a variety of news reports addressing the problem of child neglect and abuse cases (Davies, Matthews, & Reed, 2014). As a result, the current policy regarding child safety and the prevention of instances of child abuse has been reinforced significantly in my community (Gutman & Yon, 2014).

Apart from getting the key postulates of criminal justice across to the target denizens of the population, media also shapes peoples idea of injustice significantly. A certain biased political event, when viewed through the prism of a particular viewpoint, becomes easily recognizable and, therefore, relatable (Suerte, 2014). As a result, the tools used for information transfer in media, often define the manner, in which the information will be provided to the target audience: Communicative structures promote the perception of incidents of injustice by the provision of relevant information (Rothmund, Golwitzer, Baunmer & Schmidt, 2013, p. 178). It should be noted that the media serves two functions in the specified scenario. To be more exact, it performs the function of both the tool for a specific issue, which is child abuse in the given case, and also works as the means of convincing people that child abuse is a topical issue. Moreover, media has contributes to busting a range of myths concerning child abuse, such as the misconception that only a man and not a woman can be a child abuser (Tapia, 2014). Thus, public opinion on a particular subject matter, such as the criminal justice policy, is produced (., 2014).

Based on the analysis of the local criminal justice policy adopted in a specific area, one may assume that the role of media is not merely big but has consistently been getting increasingly high over the past few years. The phenomenon under analysis can be attributed partially to the fact that the introduction of modern media into the lives of ordinary people has provided more opportunities for information sharing and, therefore, the tools for framing information in a specific manner (Gutman & Yon, 2014). Additionally, the enhancement of modern media and especially some of its properties, such as the chance for inviting more people to discussing and participating in a particular social or political event, have provided legitimate grounds for media to be considered the key driving force behind the reinforcement of certain regulations regarding the criminal justice policy. Whether guided by the will of people or the interests of a certain party, media affects the way, in which people perceive and interpret objective reality; as a result, media changes the criminal justice policy gradually. The case in point is a graphic example of how media affects the reinforcement and change of the state policy concerning criminal justice. By convincing people that the instances of child abuse are getting increasingly high, media has altered the criminal justice policy regarding the subject matter. As a result, the policies concerning child safety and security have been enhanced significantly. The case in point is a graphic example of media in general, and modern media in particular, altering criminal justice policies within a specific area.

Although it is technically the public opinion that affects criminal justice policy significantly, contributing to the alteration of the existing rules and regulations, the effects of media on the evolution of the criminal justice policy are to be taken into consideration as well, since they define the viewpoints of most denizens of the population. Therefore, it can be assumed that media in general and modern media in particular defines the way, in which the criminal justice policy is shaped. Promoting a specific idea and reinforcing it as the only legitimate solution, modern media have a huge effect on the criminal justice policy, as the information represented in it is inescapable for anyone, who surfs the Internet and communicates via social networks. Therefore, it can be considered that the influence of media on criminal justice policy is getting increasingly big.