Why are newspapers and television programmes filled with stories about crimeand criminals? Is their portrayal of crime accurate? How do the media transformour a... » 

Why are newspapers and television programmes filled with stories about crimeand criminals? Is their portrayal of crime accurate? How do the media transformour attitudes to crime? Is fear of crime for example really created by themedia? The relationships between crime and the media have long been the subjectof intense debate. From the earliest days of the printing press to theexplosion of cyberspace chat rooms there have been persistent concerns aboutthe harmful criminogenic effects of the media. At the same time the media arefascinated with crime on the news in films and on television there arecountless stories about crime both real and imagined. In this innovative andaccessible new book Eamonn Carrabine carefully untangles these debates andgrapples with the powerful dynamics of fear and desire that underlie ourobsession with crime. Chapterbychapter the book introduces the different waysin which relationships between crime and the media have been understoodincluding classic debates about the medias effects news production and moralpanics as well as more cuttingedge studies of the representation of crime inthe contemporary media. Combining empirical research findings with the latesttheoretical developments the book will appeal to advanced undergraduates andgraduate students across the social sciences especially those taking coursesin criminology and media studies. «