Constructing “crime”: Media coverage of individual and organizational wrongdoing

Abstract

This article presents the results of content analyses of media coverage of two widely reported "crimes" that occurred in the Rochester, New York area in 1994: the disappearance of a four-year-old girl and the collapse and flooding of the largest salt mine in North America. An individual is the central figure in one case; the other case focuses on a business. In many other respects, these cases are quite similar. They provide an opportunity to examine and critique media coverage of very different types of behaviors, each of which is definable as crime.Media coverage of crime is a matter of growing academic interest, and criticism of this coverage is widespread. In covering traditional or street crimes, media are accused of focusing on sensational cases (

The Media, the Politics of Truth, and the Coverage of Corporate Violence: The Westray Disaster and the Public Inquiry

“…(Lofquist 1997;Morash and Hale 1987;Scraton et al 1995;Reiner 2002;Wright et al 1995). Yet, official viewpoints do not always monopolize the news-making process.…”

“…Second, we developed some of our content categories specifically for this research; others we borrowed from previous studies on the news media (Chermak 1995;Wright et al 1995;Lofquist 1997;Cavender and Mulcahy 1998;Goff 2001;Burns and Orrick 2002). Newsworthiness was measured by three indices: the type of news coverage, the placement of news reports and the type of news story.…”

“…Newsmaking is also guided by internal power mechanisms: editorial politics, story screening, the rhythms of the newsroom, the subculture of journalism and cognitive conceptions of audience interest, are all designed to keep reporters and their texts within established discursive limits. For example, reporters typically overestimate the criminality of those most vulnerable to authoritative labeling and sanctioning (Chibnall 1977;Ericson et al 1989Ericson et al , 1991Murdock 1982) and underestimate the harms and crimes caused by the powerful (Randall 1987;McMullan 2001;McCormick 1995;Wright et al 1995;Friedrichs 1996;Lofquist 1997;Lynch et al 2000;Burns and Orrick 2002). As Evans and Lundman (1983: 539) put it, ''newspapers protect corporate reputations by failing to provide frequent, prominent and criminally oriented coverage of common corporate crimes''.…”

“…Notwithstanding the volume of potential stories, the diversity of media forms and the number of presentational styles, the press remains rather conventional in their reporting of the news (Gamson et al 1992;Tunnel 1998;Lynch et al 2000;Reiner 2002). While news may be a competitive arena of conflicting perspectives, it is one which is structurally and culturally loaded.…”

“It’s a Horrible Coincidence”: Corporate Responsibility and the 2007 Pet Food Recall

“…Several studies have examined depictions of corporate crimes in the news media and have noted a dearth in the reporting of these crimes, and on occasions when they are reported, a reluctance to describe or define them as such (e.g., Burns and Orrick 2003;Lofquist 1997;McMullan and McClung 2006;Slingerland et al 2006;Tombs and Whyte 2001;Wright et al 1995). Further, when corporate crimes are addressed in the media, the focus tends to be on nonviolent crimes, such as fraud, whereas violent corporate crimes that result in death are generally overlooked (Goff 2001).…”