Policing and The Media

Representations of the Police in News, Television Police Drama, Documentaries and Beyond

This important new book looks for the first time at the stories the media tell about the police. It looks at the way in which the police have been represented historically across a variety of media. It breaks new ground by exploring the process and how a variety of factors, including police/media relations, shape these narratives.

What do you think of when you think of the police? Bobbies on the beat? Or perhaps bleaker images of police brutality such as the murder of George Floyd by a serving police officer?

For most people, the media are the main source of information about the police. For that reason, being represented positively in the media is an abiding concern for the police.

This important new book looks for the first time at the stories the media tell about the police. It looks at the way in which the police have been represented historically across a variety of media, including crime news, police dramas, documentaries, social media, and podcasts. But it also breaks new ground by exploring the process as well as the product and how a variety of factors, including police/media relations, shape these narratives.

Some of the key themes explored are:

• Impact of new digital technologies in reconfiguring relations between the police, the press, and the public
• Critical examination of “the thin blue line” narrative
• The problems of the maverick cop trope
• Increasing police control over crime information
• The stigmatisation of certain communities – in particular, Black, Brown, LGBTQ+ , and Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller citizens – particularly in crime news and reality shows
• Examining whose stories remain untold in popular representations
• Ramifications of these themes for public understanding

The book will be of key interest to Professional Policing students and researchers, as well as police professionals. It will also be essential reading for students and scholars of criminology, media studies, and cultural studies, as well as for all those interested in these intersections.

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