Читать книгу Police in America - Steven G. Brandl - Страница 27

Citizens often see the police through the filter of the media, including social media, entertainment media, and the news media. The problem is that the media do not necessarily accurately depict the police and their work. In particular, news media sources tend to be superficial and selective in their coverage. In some respects, they use the police as entertainment, or more precisely, “infotainment.”²⁴ They focus on violent, random, and bizarre crimes and often call into question police abilities in controlling crime, especially when there seems to be a large amount of it occurring. The news media tend to focus on bad officer behavior, especially instances of supposed police brutality,²⁵ although stories about police heroism also usually make the news. Entertainment media also offer an unrealistic portrayal of the police, often exaggerating the exciting or bizarre aspects of the job (e.g., the television show COPS) as well as the mysterious (e.g., Criminal Minds). Social media are also selective in their representation and unfortunately are the sources of much misinformation about the police. As such, the media may distort citizens’ views of the police.²⁶