NCJ Number
155338
Journal
Police Journal Volume: 68 Issue: 2 Dated: (April-June 1995) Pages: 120-128
Date Published
1995
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This article is based on a content analysis of British newspapers which were examined for their coverage of appeals of people convicted of sex crimes.
Abstract
In 1992, there were 17 appeals against their conviction or sentence by sex offenders in Great Britain; however, unlike the reporting of sex crimes generally, these cases received little attention from the tabloid press. Of the 10 appeals against conviction, the four successful appeals involved men convicted for sexually motivated murder, and these cases received two-thirds of the recorded tabloid attention. The author maintains that the tabloids have a vested interest in not reporting the outcome of sex crime appeals. While the media play an important role in the construction of public images of sex offenders, they have little or no interest in deconstructing these stereotypes. 2 tables and 8 references