While when selecting my television programs ill pick a back to back episode of Criminal Minds over Home and Away or Good News Week any day.
So what does all of this say about me as an individual in a media centered society? Oddly enough it doesn't seem to say that I'm a sadistic or masochist individual in fact it tells me that I am just a sheep in the masses of people who choose horrific articles and shows to read and watch while procrastinating from Uni work. In fact according to Marsh & Mellville (Chapter 1) the phenomenon that society and the media seems to have with gruesome crimes spans back as far as the Jack the Ripper case in 1888, while the hype of gangs and mafia groups of the underworld can bee seen through examples such as the Teddy Boys in the 1950s and the Mods and Rockers debacle of the 60s.
In fact Marsh and Mellville also discuss Reiner's (et al, 2003) key characteristics of media crime stories in which he points out that the media portrays crime to be a more serious issue then actual stats prove, while more serious crimes are dominant in the media, for example murder. However you only need to look at current media to see a link between society and violent titles for example on SMH. com a media article titled 'Men Who Kill' had 153 people currently reading it at midday on the 28/07/10 and had 82 comments, compared to an article written about a club opening a children's play ground in view of the pokies that only had 21 people reading it and no comments. While this is not solid proof of a link, it is an indicator of where society directs their focus when it comes to media articles.
References
Marsh, I. Mellville, G. (2009) Crime Justice and the Media, Routledge, New York
