Crime in Contemporary Society - News Values | A-Level Sociology

welcome to this tutor to you sociology topic video looking at crime in contemporary society focusing on the role of news values as we've discussed in our previous videos in this series media representations of crime often lead to a socially constructed view of crime and deviant this also applies to the selection of news

cohen young suggested that what individuals are told is the news is a social construction it's manufactured based upon the values of media institutions and heavily influenced by the target audience that they are aimed at this means that often the news is not an accurate picture of what is going on in the world but rather a version of the

world that the media owners and editors want people to see galton and roone had earlier suggested that tv and print use was selected based upon a series of values that influenced an editor's decision on the content selected for broadcast these included frequency focusing on acts that are not seen as part of everyday life

familiarity or proximity those events are locations that the audience is familiar with conflict particularly between groups that are in opposition with one another or the norms and values of society eliteness dealing with celebrity or high-profile individuals or nations consonants fitting in with a specific agenda or being predictable and simplicity issues that can be simplified and are um

unambiguous we'll look at each of these in more detail now first of all frequency editors select events based upon their infrequency in society acts that are not seen as being part of most people's day-to-day lives these are usually surprising events that will alter the viewers perception of the world around them such as mass shootings