MEDIA AND POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS

Media and Political Institutions

Media and Political Institutions

Introduction and Background

The classification of power is the central government, in which find the classic separation of powers (legislative, executive and judicial), the local authority, power associative (lobbies) and the media. By confusion, it is often said that the fourth power follows the three powers classics. Some have added to this list fifth power, which would be that, the views public (who comes off the press, although not the least influence of the press the formation of public opinion). It is hard to tell exactly from which the media influence on public opinion. The journalists say that the news coverage meets the needs of readers. Other says that the media "impose" their views on the news.

If the media are trying course of interest to the reader, the line between news and sensationalism is thin, "it is sometimes difficult to determine where the concern for his audience does and begins the sensationalism.” It is clear however, that the media must make a choice among all the facts court to determine which published or not. Some crimes go inevitably overlooked because they are "ordinary" and the low interest it in people. This selection does influence the perception of crime in the population (Abts, 2007, 405).

Impact of Media and Political Institutions

The media and Political institutions play a vital role in our lives and are among the sources information that enable people to form an opinion. About crime, around 95% of people cite the media as the first source of information on this subject. The latest survey on justice in United Kingdom reveals that respondents give more vital information from the media as that disclosed by the government (Arditi, 2003, 17).

In other words, the vital role played by the media and political institutions for the collection of crime and the justice system. Especially in regard to the prison environment is often the only way for people to know what goes on behind the walls. Some researchers have addressed the question of the impact of media on public opinion public. It seems that the media influence people's perceptions of four ways: more frequently reporting extreme or typical crimes, giving plenty of room serious crimes, choosing more crimes involving vulnerable victims and criminals invulnerable and being pessimistic with respect to system justice.

The distribution of crime and media and political Institution coverage of crime

Judicial events reported in the media, and political institutions are certainly not invented, but they not reflect reality. Various facts that the media and political institutions choose to report only those who are not, in fact, are most important in terms of frequency, trends or representativeness of offenders involved. Crime occupies a prominent place in the media. "The proportion varies from one country to another, but most studies show that crime is 10% (in quality newspapers) to 30% (in the tabloids) the average content of all newspapers. National news reports give more space to crime, and new local ...