Perceptions of Crime in the Media - Essay Example

The murder of a six-year-old girl, JonBenet Ramsey, in 1996 received great attention with the media taking a close follow up with each new unfolding. The occurrence of such crimes receives great attention from many people most of whom rely on the media for information regarding the case. As such, the media is compelled to take a keen interest in the cases simultaneously ensuring that no important unfolding is left out. Additionally, the media is always on the lookout for seemingly newsworthy stories that will receive great attention from the public.

Taking a look at the JonBenet case, it seems to have all the desirable ingredients to spark people’s attention. The death of a six-year-old girl by strangling is not an ordinary day to day scenario hence there lies many questions about the incident. With this increased public interest in the case, the media could not be left out as it sought to report on the case development. However, in the course of reporting on such sensitive cases, the media is seemingly negligent of the wellbeing of the victims.

This is especially from the perspective where the media is seemingly negligent of the implications of the statements used to describe the case. For example, in JonBenet’s case, the media gave an implication that JonBenet’s family was responsible for the murder. The media reported on the growing suspicions of the parents and this took a quick turn for the family from victims to villains. The public suddenly took a different stand from sympathizing with the parents to thinking of them as the perpetrators.

This sudden twist was greatly fueled by the media’s efforts to report on each unfolding oblivious of the implications presented by giving sensitive information. The Ramsey’s tried to prove their innocence in the media for a long period of time but the suspicions were seemingly far from over.