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University of Calcutta: Shri Shikshayatan College

This document discusses crime reporting in journalism. It defines crime reporting as collecting, writing, editing, and presenting crime-related news and information from incidents. It then discusses the roles and importance of crime reporting for society, police, and media organizations. Finally, it outlines trends in crime reporting, both positive trends like increased investigation and speed of reporting, and negative trends like dramatization and reliance on police records alone.

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Pulkit Holani
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97 views4 pages

University of Calcutta: Shri Shikshayatan College

This document discusses crime reporting in journalism. It defines crime reporting as collecting, writing, editing, and presenting crime-related news and information from incidents. It then discusses the roles and importance of crime reporting for society, police, and media organizations. Finally, it outlines trends in crime reporting, both positive trends like increased investigation and speed of reporting, and negative trends like dramatization and reliance on police records alone.

Uploaded by

Pulkit Holani
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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UNIVERSITY OF CALCUTTA

SHRI SHIKSHAYATAN COLLEGE

NAME – UMANG HOLANI


DEPARTMENT – JMC (H)
COLLEGE ROLL NO. – 216
UNIVERSITY ROLL NO. – 212034-11-0177
REGISTRATION NO. – 034-1211-0193-21
YEAR – 2021
TOPIC – CRIME REPORTING
What is Crime Reporting?
‘Crime’ is one of the most important beats in the field of journalism. It is one of the three Cs
of media (Crime, Cricket and Cinema). And these three Cs have become major sources of
revenue for media organizations. National freedom and nation building were the main
objectives of journalism before independence. But in modern journalism, the importance of
crime, cricket and cinema is constantly increasing. Crime news has become one of the most
read and sold item. Hence, covering crime is an important responsibility for journalists. In
this unit, we will learn about the meaning, needs, importance, concept and trends etc. of
crime reporting.
Collecting information, facts-figures, photographs and videos of crime incidents from the
ground zero, and writing, editing and presenting them in the news form on different media is
called crime reporting.

Roles of Crime Reporting:


As we discussed, ‘Crime’ is one of the most important beats of journalism. Crime reporting is
required for the society. Now, we’ll discuss the important roles of crime reporting. To create
awareness: Reporting crime is required to make the people aware of different types of crime,
criminals and their modus operandi. Many crime news stories inform us about the threats of
different criminal gangs active in a particular area.
To educate-
Sometimes, crime news stories may educate the people. They provide new facts and
knowledge. For example, you may see the following crime news published by
www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com on 22 November 2019:
To inform –
Many a times crime news informs us about what to do what not to do. For example, if a crime
story tells about the Delhi Police’s campaign of checking pollution certificates and fining the
violators, it’ll inform the citizens of Delhi in advance so that they can check their vehicles’
pollution certificates and follow the rules to avoid paying penalty.
To motivate-
Sometimes crime news motivates the public to become sensitive to crime and related social
issues. Recall the incident of gang rape in 2012 in South Delhi. Reporting of this incident had
created a mass movement that made the common people sensitive to horrible and violent
crimes against women.
To expose-
Crime reports expose the criminal elements of the society and those who want to keep
information secret. In this situation, investigation plays a major role in reporting crime. In
many cases, police, bureaucrats, politicians etc. want to hide several information and this is
where the role of crime reporter starts.
Importance of Crime Reporting:
For the society-
1. To eradicate the criminal elements from the society
2. To report the crime
3. Helpful to achieve justice
4. Social reforms
5. Watchdog of the society
6. Keeping people alert from crime and criminals

For the police-


1. To control the crime
2. To investigate the case
3. To propagate the information
4. To set the agenda
5. To improve the image of police Fair trial
6. To aware the mass regarding policing or police working
For the media organizations:
1. To increase readership, circulation or viewership
2. To generate revenue
3. To fulfil the professional responsibility of news media organizations

Trends:
After the emergence of 24X7 television journalism, the presentation of news has drastically
changed especially in the case of crime news. Here, we will discuss some trends in reporting
and presenting crime stories. These trends can be classified into two categories: positive
trends and negative trends. Let us start with the positive trends.
Positive Trends:
1. More informative: Nowadays, in crime stories, journalists want to cover every
dimension and aspect of the story. More research is used in presenting crime news.
2. More investigative: Investigation is crucial for crime reporting. Nowadays we can see
more investigation and angles in crime reporting.
3. More Engaging: The presentation of crime stories has become more engaging. On
television and online platforms (videos), crime reports are now presented with sound
effects, visual effects, animations and graphics. Recreation of events is also used in crime
stories.
4. Speedy: Now we are living in the world of advanced information technology where
information reaches us at a very quick pace. Television and online media provide crime
news and their updates immediately.
5. Follow up: Every reader or viewer wants to be more updated about the incidents of crime
happening in and around their area. News organizations fulfil this desire by following up
on the crime incidents from the spot to the court.
Negative Trends:
1. Dramatization: To attract more readers or viewers, often dramatization is used in the
presentation of crime news. You can watch many crime shows on television news
channels produced with full of dramatization.
2. Exaggeration: In this era of fierce competition, crime stories with exaggerations are
used to attract readers or viewers. This trend, however, puts the credibility of the news
at stake.
3. Sensationalization: These days, sensationalized crime reports are quite common. This
tendency defeats the purpose of serious and ethical journalism.
4. Media Trail: Media trial is a major problem of crime journalism. Many a times the
media presents an accused as guilty much before the actual judgement of the court. It
is against the principles of journalism. An accused is only an accused until the court
considers him or her guilty.
5. Telephonic Reporting: Collecting information from ground zero is always the best
way of crime reporting but the tendency to get information on telephone is increasing
among the crime reporters due to various reasons. This can lead to loss of credibility.
6. Complete dependence on police diary/record: Police diary or record is one of the main
sources in crime reporting but complete dependency on it is not advisable for a good
crime reporter. Reporter’s own investigation and analysis are must for fair reporting.
But these days trend of police diary-based reporting is increasing.

Types of Crime Reporting:

Crime reporting can be classified on the basis of different things. Here we’ll classify
crime reporting on the bases of subject, medium and area & importance.

Sources of Crime Reporting:

Sources play a vital role in crime reporting. There are several sources who provide
information to a crime reporter. Some may be official and some may be unofficial but
both types of sources are important for efficient crime reporting.

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