It seems in today’s media every time you turn on the television to watch the news or open the paper a celebrity of some kind will make headlines and not in a good way. It seems these days the media are more interested in reporting on the criminal beahviour of celebrities then they are on real criminals.
Lindsay Lohan comes to mind as a repeat offender of breaking the law by continually being arrested over drink driving. Under normal circumstances someone who drinks and then chooses to drive and is caught by police would not make the news, however a celebrity who breaks the law will by shown on all forms of media outlets like television, radio and the newspapers. As Jewkes (2004) acknowledges that a celebrity “will frequently be the recipient of media attention even if involved in a fairly routine crime that would not be deemed newsworthy if it concerned an ordinary member of public”. In addition Jewkes (2004) highlights that a story will always make the news if a well-known name is attached to it as people are obsessed with celebrities especially when it comes to crime.
Another celebrity that has had a lot of media attention in relation criminal behaviour is none other then Charlie Sheen. The difffernce between Charlie sheen and Lindsay Lohan are charges against Sheen are much more serious as he faced criminal charges for domestic violence against his wife Brooke Mueller. Although this case was rather serious did it deserve as much attention as it got by the media?. in addition did the media’s over involvement influence the case in anyway ? These are question that are difficult to answer but the point I’m trying to raise is that perhaps the media over-representation can affect the outcome of criminal case.
The focus has been on American celebrities but even in our own backyard Australian celebrities are being reported on by their criminal conduct. Going on to the Daily telegraph website and clicking “news breaking stories” I came across television personality Ernie Dingo who has been charged with aggravated common assault after allegedly slapping a child at a Carnarvon school in northern Western Australia.
(http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/breaking-news/police-charge-actor-ernie-dingo-with-assaulting-11-year-old-boy/story-e6freuyi-1225906844007)
The story is a serious allegation against Mr Dingo but does it deserve making the news. One could argue yes because children are involved and that’s a serious issue that would raise public awareness. On the other hand did it make the news because Mr Dingo is a television personality makes the story more appealing and thus news worthy. I personally don’t believe Mr Dingo is a big television personality but it seems Jewkes was correct in that a story will always make the news if a well-known name is attached to it and never more is this evident with Ernie Dingo.
In summary should the media report crimes committed by celebrities? There is no simple answer but I think they should within moderation. Obviously the case against Charlie Sheen did deserve to make the news. In regards to Lindsay Lohan the case against her should not have made news but her celebrity status allowed her to. I don’t have an issue with this I just think it should be limited in its reporting as it was just a DUI.
REFERENCE
Jewkes, Y. (2004) Media and Crime, London: Sage
Great examples. There is a lot more research being done in recent times looking at this whole celebrity crime interest, particularly from the cultural criminological perspective. We certainly are seeing a blurring of what is news and what is entertainment. Great use of the text to draw out some concepts.
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