The Media and Victims of Crime

In today’s media there seems to be great emphasis on the victims of crime. The question that arises from this is why do the media focus and over-represent some victims compared to other victims of similar crimes. As I have stated in past blogs the general public have a keen interest in crime and that is why the media report crime stories because of their newsworthiness but apart from the crime itself people seem to have just as much interest for the victim of the crime.

A victim of a crime especially serious assault or rape deserves to make a statement to the media about their thoughts and feelings to the crime that they have become a victim of. The issue that arises is that some victims are given more attention then others which can sometimes be unfair to other people with almost exact similarities of victimisation.

There are various reasons why some individuals of vicmtimsation will be covered by the media compared to others. For example I believe gender, age and race are major factors that contribute to whether a person will receive media attention of the crime that has been committed against them. It has been highlighted that an ideal victim is someone who is venerable, defenceless, innocent and deserves compassion from others. Ideal victims that come to mind are little girls, or elderly women as both have the gender factor of being a female the age factor of being to young or old to defend themselves and are vulnerable to perpetrators and usually these victims are Caucasian. 

Another factor may be the crime itself. If the crime is serious or unusual then the victim is likely to get more media attention. Unusual or out of the ordinary creates newsworthiness and this is what the media are looking for when they report victims of crime.

When looking through the newspaper to find an article about victims I came across a story involving two young women that are alleged victims of sexual assault by their stepfather who has been granted bail. They highlighted that they got off the train at Mt Druitt station and saw their stepfather but they were not informed that he had been granted bail. As 21 year old Kristie Hawkins said “We got off the train and there he was on the platform. She further added “No one should have this sort of thing happen to them” These quotes reinforce how victims are portrayed as innocent who deserve peoples compassion about the situation that they find themselves in.

In summary victims should be entitled to make statements about their feelings and emotions but the media should not manipulate what stories should and should not be reported. Everyone despite their age, gender or race should be given as much priority as the next victim. Obviously some stories of victimisation will be reported more then others but the media should at times vary a story about a victim of crime by reporting that young men, elderly men and people of different backgrounds who are innocent can also be victims of serious crimes.