Missing Children

Females and children are seen as ideal victims when studying criminology as they are perceived to be more likely victims of crime, such as rape and kidnapping and also targeted for theft. Young girls are seen as weak, vulnerable, innocent and are susceptible to being harmed by 'bigger, older and bad' people. It could be because of this view that makes the stories of children who are reported as missing or murdered 'newsworthy' - it grabs the media’s attention and most of the cases are closely followed and reported by the media. 


According to Jewkes (2004) there are 12 values of 'newsworthiness', which can be found in the more popular stories. Modified by Jewkes (2004), these elements of 'newsworthiness' is what gives the story relatively more media coverage and public interest.


Using the examples of Madeleine McCann and Kiesha Abraham I will briefly summarise how the media portrayed these cases and what makes the story ‘newsworthy’.

Madeleine McCann – disappeared 3^rd May, 2007

Even though the case of Madeleine McCann is far away (geographically and even time-wise) the latest development in the story was viewed in the news just over a week ago both on TV news and in print media. This mysterious disappearance of the 4 year old girl (who would be 11 now) has been in the media spotlight for approximately 4 years. Not only that, but there are many websites and books dedicated to the case of the missing girl including a book which was written by the mother, detailing her ordeal. The news chose to broadcast videos and photos of Madeleine playing like an ordinary girl. This highlights the innocence of the child and also utilises the importance of visual for a newsworthy story.

Kiesha Abraham – reported missing 1^st August, 2010

The story of the missing 6 year old from her Mt Druitt home in NSW received a large amount of media coverage, especially on the news with the developing story being reported every day for over a week and regular updates up until her body was found earlier (April, 2011). The media focused on the feelings of grief and shock felt by the community from the day of the disappearance til the arrest of the mother and stepfather of the little girl. Not only does this story evoke strong emotions and reactions, the proximity of the case, involvement of a child and the threshold which this story has are main values of newsworthiness seen in this story.
*The arrest of her mother and step-father and the discovery of her body created more headlines in the month of April.

Extra reading

Jewkes, Y. (2004). Media and Crime. (1^st ed) London: Sage Publications.

[ WANTED ]

Wanted posters have been plastered around to let people know about fugitives and also for to help the police find wanted (alleged) criminals or for eyewitnesses to come forward. Then television and radio broadcasting took over and we see descriptions, footage and drawings of potentially dangerous offenders in the news. The modern way of hunting down fugitives is now YouTube. The NSW state police force now has their own YouTube channel and Twitter account to keep followers and viewers informed of the latest crime updates.

TheNSWPolice, the username for the police on YouTube, has over 1000 subscribers and a total of approximately 851,000 unique views of their videos. The accessibility of the internet and the ease of creating social networking accounts like a YouTube channel where you can upload your own video or a Twitter account, where your ‘followers’ can read a 140 characters account of what you’re doing, it is not surprising that the authorities are using such platforms to inform the public of events, especially when politicians and celebrities are using these sites. People who may not have time to watch the news, or who only catches glimpses, can jump online and watch and read information which the authorities

The police have recently released CCTV footage of a stabbing in Sydney CBD on the corner of Sussex St and Goulbourn St in Sydney CBD as an attempt to appeal for witnesses. The 30 second footage shows a group who were at the time of the incident that police suspects may have information on the attacker and/or victim or can describe the events prior to the violent altercation. Other videos on the channel include police operations which are more detailed and different updates which you may not see on the news.

The video embedded above received 2293 views. 

               

With the police using YouTube and Twitter, will they ‘break up’ with ‘traditional’ press? How important is a press conferences when there are millions of users on YouTube and Twitter? As technology advances, we'll just have to wait and see what new platforms are available for use by the police.

Related Links

NSW Police’s YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheNSWPolice

An introduction

So hello everyone and welcome to my crime blog where I will be blogging my own opinions and insights on the most recent stories on crime. I think I should start with a brief introduction to just give you a bit of information of how my opinions are shaped and where I get my facts from so you (may) feel more comfortable.

I remember waking up turning on the television and seeing footage of passenger planes striking the twin World Trade Centre towers of America and realising how something so far away and feel so close and can be shown to the entire world so quickly. However, now with easy access to the internet and 24/7 free-to-air news channel (ABC4, Channel 24) seeing what happens around the world live doesn't seem like an exclusive event. The media has greatly influenced in the way I view crime as it is the only source of crime news. 

I watch the news each night when I get home from my outings and with Channel 10 having 2.5 hours of news each night, it is hard to miss. Other issues which I am attentive to are those on Today Tonight/A Current Affair. However with the television blaring it is hard to miss all the news stories which are online, like those clips which appear on the bottom on my Windows Live Messenger when I'm chatting to my friends placed by Ninemsn to get unsuspecting messagers to accidently click on and visit their site for the latest news and video clips, among other things. As with print media, I occasionally read the daily newspapers but I do read quite a bit of the Sunday Telegraph.

As you can tell, I do get most of my information from the media but my views on crime and what happens around me also root from my family. To me, when I see a group of guys late at night, my heart starts to race and I start panicking because my parents always told me to walk faster (or in the opposite direction altogether) when I see a group of guys or a group of people of a certain culture/race. Nothing else to look for, just a group of guys especially when they're being loud (or just being how males are when they're bonding). So my reactions to situations are hugely influenced by my parents. They are also my source of foreign news (as they read the Chinese newspaper) which are stories which are interesting to me but never make it to Australian news (overseas murders, strange but true stories from Asia, etc.).

Unfortunately I have nothing to report on for today as Charlie Sheen and Benji Marshall are still being bombarded in our faces and celebrities are not what I consider as 'blog-worthy' even though they're 'newsworthy'.