SOC 3750 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Police Legitimacy, Toronto Star, Toronto Sun
14 Nov 2016
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Document Summary
We depend on mass media for crime and justice information. Been the case since the early 19th century. But news media and police have a complex relationship. Like lovers too blinded by their passion, each needs and is made stronger by the presence of one another, they can"t live together but are compelled to speak daily. Police and news media are mutually dependent. Police seek institutional legitimacy via news media (how media portrays them to the public) News media help with police operations (awareness, tips, etc) News media need steady stream of crime stories (information, dependent on the department to keep them up to date on the event) Further complicating matters; news media acts as a watch dog. (cannot be fully dependent but this is a contradiction as they already need one another) Scrutinize police activity and keep state authority in check. Being a watch dog, comes with status. The complexities of the relationship is our main focus.
