Do you think that media helps increase crime?

I think it does influence some crime to occur as it gives people ideas on what they could do and how to do it. There are a lot of copycat criminals out there so I definitely think the medias coverage can influence more crime. People do like publicity whether in a good way or in a bad way. It only takes one bad apple to make other people do bad things as well.

Yes I think that's how alot of people get ideas from the media, my husband and I were just talking about that yesterday. we were watching the news, and they show how people can break in homes, by using a special instrument. I told my husband now, that a bad idea, that's just giving people an idea. they even showed how it was done.

You're right, people are like apes very often: just copy behaviour from other people, also criminal behaviour.... I don't say it can't be mentioned at all but the 'sensation' around it could be less I guess... xx

It's the two sides of one problem. Maybe people are informed how to do crime through the media report. But another, people also can learn how to prevent crime from the media. Then in fact, I also think the negitive is more than the positive!

i m agree with you...Media sholudnt publicize crimes as much as they do....

In a way it is good also....say jst to make people realize wht sort of crimes are there in the society ---- so tht they can take precaution to avoid them at ther neighbourhood or at ther very own place.... If it is not there, still there are minds who'll do it, but we wnt have any combat strategy left with us ---- could be said, "Prevention is better than Cure"... Though i dnt disagree with the other part, tht they also instill some Mongers to try this craft in there area ---- for publicity or jst for mere grudge, but then, these people won't stop by jst like tht ---- rather they will go for some other or maybe more dangerous patterns of crimes......still this is a very debatable topic to be acted upon....

I think it does. Not only with serial killers or terrorists. I found that, if a school as a bomb threat called in as a prank and the paper runs a story, you can expect at least 2-3 copy cats.

yes, yes, yes, i think that they should take the news off entirely. i stopped watching it. they have so much in the media that influences young people and the crazy people.

Well, I'm a Media Studies University student and Ive probably done more research on this topic than people that have replied to this thread have had hot dinners. Seriously, it's been my prime research topic for 2 years now. I can tell you with assurance from my research that there is NO STATISTICAL EVIDENCE that has not been contested or disproved in other studies that says that the media icreases violence. There is no evidence that people blindly mimic what they see on television; in fact, that has been widely disproved since the theory came around in the 1920's. I mean, even if you think of it from a lateral point of view, kids ever day wach violent films and play violent games, and they do not go out and kill someone, or maim someone! There is no evidence that links playing violent games or watching violent films with going out and committing violent behaviour. The main culprit of violence is family upbringing, friendship circles, religion, childhood, etc. There's many other factors, but television is NOT one of them. Sorry, I could explain it better, but I'm kind of tired and trying to compact 2 years of research into a few sentences.

Hmm I really dont have any idea at this point. But it is a very interested one. I think media does increase the crime because they publibcize it so much like you also said..

It really seems like the more you read about different crimes in the paper and see them on tv, the more crime hits home. I think alot of people are swayed into crimes to see if they can do it better, not get caught, etc. I think the legal system needs to work out better punishments for the crimes that are being committed and post this in the paper with a follow up story of what will happen when they're caught and let them know they will be caught.

I hope media is focused only on publicity. They dosent encourage crime the educate the public from these crimes and also warning from the situtation that the have to face if they do any crime. But unfortunatly that helps people to get new ideas to do crimes

You are right media is asking the people do as the same as criminals do if small boy sees it he tries for it when he become elder he trys for it.and they sow how to escape from poloce and in what way you can cheat the police.media not only doing this but spoiling the whole country.they are so powerful that even crimnals also becomes hero.

(Hi this is my first post in Mylot) I don't think media is the sole reason for increase in crime rate, but MEDIA MAGNIFIES IT!! The absence of media means, i) only people in close-proximity knows it ii) the incident is not discussed in various angles, which makes it popular and and urges people to add their own view points to it, (however stupid it could sound) no helping us, it all happens and we feel the crime rate is high due to 'media'.

Yes, I do think the media helps increase crime. It does so not by covering the story, which must be done as we do need to know what is going on. The media increases crime by protraying the perpetrators in a sympathetic way. People in the media do not seem to understand how simple minded, mallable, and easily influenced some of these violent people happen to be. Consider that you are a low self esteem loser who feels rotten about life and yourself most of the time. When you read a story about someone else who is pretty much just like you who has been caught committing some violent crime, what kind of advice to you think his own twisted logic whispers in his ear? How about, " Gee, look at that guy, people feel sorry for him! He had a bad childhood, his parents beat him, he is poor, discriminated against, and etc. He is just like me! I could get people to feel sorry for me, too. People would not see me just as sorry loser. Thed's feel sorry for me. All I have to do is do what he did!" Now, to normal people the above quote is absolute nonsense and incredibly stupid. That's right it is. However, I have known 3 murderers in my life. Two I knew really well. The third, I knew better than I'd like. That's how I know that people who do these things do think like in the quote! A normal person has no concept what goes on in the mind of the average criminal unless they have seriously studied and/or associated with some of them. The mind of the violent criminal is not a tidy organized logical place. The stories of the media enter this chaotic place, the criminal mind, and stir it up even worse than it was!

it does,i think.

Crime is not the direct product of media. Media plays major role when there is crime in society. Mostly, we find media in negative side. They spread it to earn more. They think that this is their business. They never think that some positive news should cover the front page of newspaper. No, TV channels are working for good news.

Ya i too think the same the media is helping in increasing the crime.They not only showing the crimes they are telecasting the crimes as the episodes in the T.V this increases the crime rate.

No. You feel that the crime has increased because it gets covered by the medis extensively. Crime was the same even earlier.

yeah offcourse i agree with this the media peoples are making big deal out of small silly things.Apart from this they even clearly depict the things elaborately and how they found the clues in this way they are tempting and pulling the new peoples who does not know the way of living into this kind of things as they told how they found they clue it is easy for these new peoples to avoid that mistakes.So media is just ready to do anything for the sake of publicity thats all. In my view media should stop doing this