Media Portrayal of Police

This assignment delves into the multifaceted relationship between media and law enforcement. It analyzes various sources, including journal articles, reports, and online documents, to explore how media portrayals of police influence public opinion. The assignment examines both positive and negative representations, considering factors such as bias, sensationalism, and the role of social media. Ultimately, it aims to shed light on the complexities of this relationship and its implications for society.

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Annotated Resources
Dhillon, KS 2013, 'Police & Media In India', Bureau of Police Research and Development, vol 1, no. 100,
p. 1.
Retrieved From:-
http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/polic5&div=39&id=&page
In this Article, the author tried to put light on the relations of the police and media, by fairly
presenting their ways and behaviors towards each other. In this article, the author said that the
policemen’s are the part of, not apart from the people. In a society that is democratic and free of
any kind of government interferences, there the only means of portraying the character of police
in front of general public is media. It is in the hand of media whether to benefit or to obstruct the
image of police in the public.
Reeder, D 2016, 'Relationship Between Media & Police', U.K Printing and press works, Cambrigde.
https://www.lmc.org/page/1/PoliceMediaRelationsMarchApril2016.jsp
In this report the writer, is telling the audience about the experience of a crime reporter Crolyn
Lowe. She spent all her career interviewing the law and enforcement officers. Slowly she came
to know that the relationship between the media and police is really hectic, so she decided to
bridge this gap between both by explaining the media about the profession of police and to the
police about the profession of the media. In her course of this bridging the gap, she ended up
earning a master’s degree in police leadership programme. This encouraged police officials to go
through a programme that will help them understanding the job of a reporter.
Rodrigo 2012, Symbolic Relationship between Media & Police, viewed 5 June 2012,
<https://writepass.com/journal/2012/12/what-is-the-relationship-between-the-media-and-the-police-
in-britain/>.
The author of his document “Rodrigo” stated that the relationship between police and media has
been progressed. As by each passing year the moral and social responsibilities of both the
profession are increasing, and even the general public is getting more aware and more
responsible. It is now not in hand of police or the media to deter the image of each other in the
public. However still a large number of mass is still dependent on the media, though the
relationship between media and police is getting improved by each passing year.
Kristyntrant 2015, How Police Officers are represented in Media, viewed 2nd August 2015,
<https://storify.com/kristyntrant/how-police-offiers-are-represented-in-the-media>.
The author of this document states that, the media whether news channels, entertainment
channels or movies always takes the work and role of police for granted. They never think about

how and what police officers go through in order to protect the civilians from the criminals. In
his document the author states that the media of today is more of a judging body itself then to be
an informing body. One bad incident about the police and all the media whether news channels
or even the different internet entertainment channels they start portraying bad images of police
officers by spoofing or by other means.
Lee, M 2014, 'Policing & Media', Routledge, Bath.
Retrieved From:-
https://www.routledge.com/Policing-and-Media-Public-Relations-Simulations-and-
Communications/Lee-McGovern/p/book/9780415632133
Murray Lee, investigated and conducted a thorough research over 500 policemen’s of different
police department and when he finally reached to the findings of his result, he showcased that
now the majority of the police officers are in the fear, when they have to face their opposition,
they are in the fear that if they try to defend themselves, the media will portray it as “a police
officer trying to threaten then general public or a media person”. The media channels knows that
their TRP will only go high if they will show negative feeds about the police officials.
Morelli, A 2015, The Media's War on Police Officials, viewed 23rd December 2015,
<https://www.theodysseyonline.com/medias-war-police-officers>.
The author of this document studied in detail the relationship of police and media. The research
was conducted on the American police department and the American media. The author claims
that in the recent years the behavior of the general public towards the officers of law and
enforcement has been drastically changed. Now the public do not trust the police officers and
they are always wrongly treated by the general public. The author here holds the media
responsible for this negative approach of the general public towards the police officers. The
author states that in United States it is a kind of business for the news channels to wrongly
present the job of police. It should be taken into consideration by these media houses and the
general public that a police officer is a one after army men who is always under a constant
pressure of performing his/her duty with all their truthfulness and dedication. The officers of law
and enforcement department sometimes don’t even get holidays or offs for their family
occasions. This is never shown by any media channel as they know people only want the
negative feed.
Shawna 2014, 'Book keeping entries', in Media Portrayal on Police, Jermy Publishers, New york.
The author of this topic is Shawna, and in their research on the relationship between police and
media is widely appreciated and recognized. In his research the author claims that it is the media
that is responsible for the negative portrayal of the image of the police officers amongst the
general public. The media always feeds the general public about the misconduct or the bad
behavior of the police and they never shows up any good step or activity taken up by the law and

enforcement department. The media always represents police as the most corrupt and the most
racist department, however that is not true. The impact of this kind of news is such that the
general public has installed mini cameras in their cars to record every little encounter that they
have with the police officers. The author questions the general public and the media houses that
have they ever think that, when they call on the emergency numbers who shows up with in a
fractions of minutes? The answer to this is Police. Hence it is the media who is negatively
feeding the mindset of the general public against the police and this kind of journalism is also
affecting the working of the police.