Sex Crime in the News

This systematic study, based on 5000 newspapers over a 40 year period, considers the way in which newspapers have reported sex crimes. The study reveals that much of the reportage is trivial, whilst serious studies of sex crimes and law reform are given short shrift in the popular press. The number of sex crimes, particularly rape, reported to the police has risen in recent years and public concern is mounting. The authors show that, despite this, the media typically ignores the wider issues raised by concerned groups, preferring to highlight a few unusual cases. The increasing gap between the reality of sexual abuse and the reportage of it in the press, raises, argue the authors, broad concerns about relationships between the media, the individual and the state. The book is intended to be of use to people working in the media, to legislators involved in debates about the press, to students working in women's studies, cultural and media studies and those working in the field of deviancy.