Deck 11: Media Ethics and Criminal Justice Media Constructions of Crime

Question 1

In overall ethical terms, the issue of limited freedom of the media is determined by _____, that media freedom is constrained by the rights of others:

A) The Constitution
B) The US Supreme Court
C) Kant's categorical imperative
D) Competing moral rights

Answer 1

D

Question 2

The media police the boundaries of what is considered morally and socially acceptable behavior, and identify ________________ as news.

A) Moral perspectives
B) Inadequacies
C) Differences
D) Transgressions

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Numerous studies have shown that most people gain their knowledge of events:

A) From the radio
B) From the media
C) In discussion with others
D) By reviewing newspapers online

Answer 3

B

Question 4

is also a factor because taking information from apparently credible sources minimizes investigative expense.

A) Objectivity
B) Truth
C) Competence
D) Cost

Question 5

What is a key issue for the media, and its absence can be revealed when a journalist is unable to separate his or her personal beliefs from the subject matter of the reporting.

A) Objectivity
B) Truth
C) Competence
D) Cost

Question 6

Surette (2011) notes that in modern society the mediated crime event displaces the actual event and:

A) Makes it seem far worse than it does when it is not displaced
B) Allows us to frame our fear of crime differently
C) The vicarious pleasure of seeing crime on television is far preferable to being victimized
D) Allows police to make an arrest more easily

Question 7

Klaidman and Beauchamp (1987) argue that in covering stories where the public's right to know is a determining factor, stories should:

A) Be substantially complete
B) Be laden with values
C) Be imbalanced
D) Encourage subjective understanding

Question 8

What is perceived to be a desired ethical value and is seen as an end-goal developed by methodological rigour.

A) Objectivity
B) Truth
C) Competence
D) Cost

Question 9

There is a common perception that most crime is committed by:

A) Whites
B) Hispanics
C) Asians
D) Blacks

Question 10

Which of the following are characteristics of a "virtuous journalist"?

A) Avoiding bias
B) Serving the public
C) Inviting criticism
D) All of these

Question 11

The media decides what is 'newsworthy' and crime ranks:

A) Just below politics on that scale
B) Just above politics on that scale
C) High on that scale
D) Low on that scale

Question 12

The legal system is depicted as an obstacle to crime fighting with complex procedures and trials as well as dramatic adversarial contests. In reality, though:

A) Few accused actually go to trial and unexciting plea bargains are the norm
B) The legal system is far more complex
C) The legal system makes it easier to fight crime because prosecutors know how to talk with the media
D) Crime fighting is the complex part of the process

Question 13

It is suggested that the worldwide media, in an age of globalization, constitute a:

A) Site for the construction of a moral order
B) The primary source of news
C) A responsible path for discussion of moral issues
D) Monopoly so that news is consistent

Question 14

The War on Drugs strengthened the association between blacks and crime. The truth, however, is that:

A) Whites never have been engaged in drugs as much as blacks, a fact often reported in the media
B) The War on Drugs focused on heroin, a drug often used by blacks, a fact not usually in the media
C) Whites comprise almost 3/4 of illegal drug users and blacks 13%, a fact not usually incorporated in media accounts
D) Whites comprise almost 1/3 of illegal drug users and blacks almost 2/3, a fact often reported in the media

Question 15

Klaidman and Beauchamp (1987) hold the view that journalists themselves, instead of believing the courts must first rule on what they want to publish.

A) Should write their stories
B) Ought to make the necessary ethical decisions
C) Should not have absolute freedom
D) All of the above

Question 16

Responsibility and competence are linked together and _____ may be the outcome of a moral failure of responsibility rather than a lack of skill.

A) Panic
B) Incompetence
C) Criticism
D) Adversity

Question 17

What assumptions are commonly deployed by the media to characterize women's experience of crime, especially crimes of violence deemed more newsworthy?

A) Feminine
B) Victim-based
C) Masculine
D) All of the above

Question 18

What television show promoted the notion that all crimes can be solved using forensic science methods?

A) Law and Order
B) CSI
C) NCIS
D) Elementary

Question 19

Although the law is often concerned with , it is not the basic repository of our moral standards and values.

A) Moral problems
B) Law breakers
C) Petty crimes
D) All of the above

Question 20

Which of the following is NOT true regarding the media construction of crime?

A) The media construction of crime will define what are thought to be the causes of crime
B) The media construction of crime will define what acts are regarded as criminal
C) The media construction of crime will reduce the seriousness of the crime
D) The media construction of crime will identify what policies of crime control should be adopted

Question 21

In inner-city areas it is air to say that media coverage of crime tends to what people already know and what some have already experiences through having been victimized.

A) Diminish
B) Reinforce
C) Undermine
D) Hinder

Question 22

The woman assumption assigns the categories of whores and vamps to women who are sexually available.

A) Good
B) Bad
C) Feminine
D) Masculine

Question 23

Which of the following is an inaccurate comment about what is more "newsworthy" in the media in regards to crime?

A) Homicides are considered more "newsworthy" when the victim is white
B) Victims who are perpetrated against by a stranger are considered more "newsworthy" than a victim who knows the perpetrator
C) Rape is the most likely crime to be reported
D) Crimes against children are considered more "newsworthy" than crimes against the adults

Question 24

The media has been accused of perpetuating the image of the ideal victim by:

A) Focusing attention only on victims who meet that standard of victimhood
B) Focusing only on the very young and the very old victims
C) Reporting, on the visual media, pictures of victims
D) Reporting sympathetic stories of victims who have also been charged with crimes

Question 25

What is a distorted or unfair judgment or disposition caused by the values of a reporter, editor, or institution?

A) Disposition
B) Perception
C) Inaccuracy
D) Bias

Question 26

Elias (1994) has argued that the media the situation of crime victims by distorting the causes and impact of victimization.

A) Denies
B) Perpetuates
C) Misrepresents
D) Allows

Question 27

Many studies have found associations between media consumption patterns and measures of:

A) Support for a restorative justice policy in the criminal justice system
B) Juvenile delinquency
C) Crime rates
D) Fear of crime

Question 28

The media stereotypically construct police as which of the following?

A) The professional
B) The vigilante
C) The oppressor
D) All of these

Question 29

An analysis of press reports found that % of articles supported explanations that lethal force used by police was justified.

A) 67.5
B) 69.5
C) 72.5
D) 77.5

Question 30

Hirschfield and Simon (2010) contend that the media stereotypically construct police into various types. Which type "welcomes and is ready to use deadly force against dangerous criminals"?

A) Professional
B) Vigilante
C) Oppressor
D) Pessimist

Question 31

Which of the following is a correct statement in regards to bias?

A) Distorted or unfair judgment or disposition
B) Always ideological
C) Omitted by mistake
D) Partisanship is always bias

Question 32

Which of Hirschfield and Simon's (2010) stereotypically constructed media police types is one who uses legal violence to repress minorities?

A) Professional
B) Vigilante
C) Oppressor
D) Pessimist

Question 33

Content analyses of crime stories reveal what Surette (2011) terms the law of _______________, because the nature of crime, criminals, and victims portrayed in the media is generally the complete opposite of the pattern shown through official crime statistics or victim surveys.

A) Opposites
B) Opposites attract
C) Evil
D) Media perception

Question 34

The woman assumption assigns the category of Madonna or virgin to marriageable women.

A) Good
B) Bad
C) Feminine
D) Masculine

Question 35

Which of Hirschfield and Simon's (2010) stereotypically constructed media police types is circumscribed by endless rules and regulations?

A) Professional
B) Vigilante
C) Oppressor
D) Pessimist

Question 36

Media accounts that engender moral panics amplify deviance and function as:

A) Advocacy for greater levels of social control
B) A warning to the public
C) Assistance to law enforcement to make an arrest
D) A key profit maker for the media

Question 37

In 2013, the media actively promoted a moral panic referred to as the that involved alleged random black-on-white assaults for fun.

A) Assault game
B) Hit game
C) Knockout game
D) None of the above

Question 38

Which of the following is not one of Barak's (1994) aims of "news-making criminology"?

A) Demystifying images of crime and punishment
B) Allowing criminologists to deploy their knowledge and show themselves to be unreliable voices in public policy
C) Call on criminologists to develop the necessary media skills to participate in dialogues on crime and justice
D) Strive to affect public attitudes and discourses about crime and bring about public policy based on structural and historical analyses of institutional development

Question 39

of crime and of being victimized by crime are key influences in criminal justice policy making and in the promotion of punitive policies.

A) Fear
B) Justification
C) Causes
D) Factors

Question 40

In articles about use-of-force by police, Lawrence (2000) found that almost % of articles relied on official sources for their reporting.

A) 70
B) 75
C) 80
D) 85

Question 41

With media assistance, MADD succeeded in characterizing drunk drivers as a new menace to society for whom laws had to be made tougher.

Question 42

Which of the following is NOT an unethical manipulation technique that may be used by the media?

A) Using persuasive interviewing techniques to influence others to disclose material they would normally not disclose
B) When a journalist makes an attempt in hard news to persuade using emotional rhetoric rather than fact
C) When a journalist relies on an unsubstantiated argument without noting its weaknesses to produce a desired conclusion
D) Any intentional and successful influence of a person by noncoercively altering the actual choices available to the person or by non-persuasively altering the other's perceptions of those choices.

Question 43

One of the most urgent moral concerns in journalism is securing and keeping the of the public.

A) Confidence
B) Trust
C) Revenue
D) Good ratings

Question 44

Partisanship will only equate to bias in cases where the underlying partisan values distort a story.

Question 45

Truthfulness is fundamental to trust and is associated with:

A) Fidelity and loyalty
B) Moral and ethics
C) Avoiding harm
D) Manipulation

Question 46

Infotainment is defined as:

A) Using the media to report fictitious events so law enforcement can catch the real criminal
B) The marketing of edited, highly formatted information about the world in entertainment media vehicles
C) The placement of crime stories on television late at night hoping a viewer will be able identify the offender
D) Using entertainment to reenact criminal events

Question 47

Cooperation between police and the media is now a norm worldwide.

Question 48

The _______________ principle states that a "person's liberty may justifiably be restricted to prevent harm that that person's actions would cause to others."

A) Reasonable standard of care
B) Moral blame
C) Morality
D) Do no harm

Question 49

Journalists ought to rely on the courts to make the necessary ethical decisions instead of adopting the approach that they have absolute freedom to publish anything.

Question 50

The predator principle says a person's liberty may justifiably be restricted to prevent harm that that person's actions would cause to others.

Question 51

Fear of crime and victimization do not impact criminal justice policy decisions.

Question 52

Beginning from the late 1980s, crime related infotainment began to appear on television and:

A) Other forms of media
B) The boundary between crime and entertainment dissolved
C) Crimes were solved at an increased rate
D) The media outlets immediately saw an increase in ratings and revenue

Question 53

According to ethicists, which of the following is NOT one of the ethical responsibilities of the media in its reporting and presentation of crime and criminal justice?

A) Serving the police
B) Reporting the truth
C) Avoiding harm
D) Maintaining trust

Question 54

It is easy to see how the public trust in the media would result in the public paying less regard to the media and being less well informed.

A) Allowing
B) Eroding
C) Justifying
D) None of the above

Question 55

While it is difficult to identify a specific media effect, it is likely that the media play a part is stoking fear of crime simply because they manipulate crime stories to make sure we are fearful.

Question 56

In inner-city areas, media coverage of crime tends to reinforce what people already know and what some have actually experienced through having been victimized.

Question 57

The bad woman label assigns the category of virgins.

Question 58

Which of the following illustrate that a media review of a new product can make it or break it?

A) Media power allows consumers to recognize politics
B) Politics and economics are key interests for most of the public
C) Media power is formidable in political, economic and social fields
D) Super Bowl commercials cost more per minute of air time than any other time

Question 59

Victims of police violence are treated more sympathetically by the media than other murder victims because media accounts tend to present such incidents as a double victimization.

Question 60

Using to increase profits by selling more newspapers or to increase the salacious content of a publication are not ethically justifiable acts.

A) Disclosures
B) Crime
C) Bias
D) Lies

Question 61

_____will be ascribed to those who acted carelessly resulting from failure to discharge a morally imposed duty to take care or behave reasonably toward others.

Question 62

Beginning from the late 1980s, crime related infotainment began to appear on television and _____ dissolved.

Question 63

Describe how news is constructed by the media who decide what is newsworthy.

Question 64

Define manipulation.

Question 65

Define infotainment.

Question 66

Klaidman and Beauchamp suggest that _____are critical in a profession such as journalism where stories are often produced in haste and under pressure of events.

Question 67

In the popular media treatment of race and crime, why are whites presumed non-criminal by nature and criminality is assumed in the nature of blacks?

Question 68

Define what constitutes manipulation by the press.

Question 69

A clear distinction must be drawn between a story being in the public interest and a story that _____.

Question 70

How is the do no harm principle linked to the works of John Stuart Mill and Immanuel Kant?

Question 71

Klaidman and Beauchamp argue that in covering stories where the public's right to know is a determining factor, stories should be substantially complete, should encourage an objective understanding, and be balanced and accurate. Describe each of these factors.

Question 72

Define the do no harm principle.

Question 73

Identify Hirschfield and Simon's three media stereotypes of police.

Question 74

Describe news-making criminology.

Question 75

Describe what a historical account of "press freedom" in the U.S. reveals.