My name is Allison McCullough and I am majoring in psychology as well as minoring in sociology. I am interested in the criminal justice system and how the media plays a role in perceptions of criminal behavior in the real world and in staged settings such as TV shows and movies. I hope to learn about how the media shapes perceptions of criminal behavior, and if it affects criminal behavior in real life at all. I also hope to gain insight into the criminal justice system and how it is portrayed through the media and how views and perceptions of crime and the criminal justice system can be skewed or changed.
Over the past 5 days, my media consumption has consisted of a Law and Order TV episode in class, and hearing about a crime that occurred last week via newspaper, radio, and the internet.
i realized that after these five days, i don't partake in a great deal of media on a daily basis. I only watch TV once in a great while, and movies about every two weeks or so. I listen to the radio in my car when I'm driving which is about every other day and during that time i rarely hear about crime related incidinces that occur in the community of Moscow. Probably the biggest intake from media in my daily life comes from the internet. If i get on Facebook, sometimes there are posts of crime related events, such as this last week with the shooting that happened in Moscow.
What i saw/heard in the media about crime this last week had to do with the murder/suicide that happened last Monday. It was talked about on the radio, and pictures and stories were shared on Facebook for everyone to see and talk about. There was also extensive story coverage in the Argonaut that i partook in. I noticed that all of the media coverage on the crime had a similar theme of sadness and loss of the two lives especially that of the student. many people around campus were discussing their views on the matter and how bizarre and weird the situation was. Its unusual that such a gruesome crime would occur in the small town of Moscow, Idaho, because it rarely happens. So this kind of ordeal was bound to bring about a lot of discussion and media coverage. I think that on an average week, I partake in a relatively minimal amount of media. However there was a lot of crime-related media that i took part in this week because it was so close to home.
