Perceptions Of Crime And How The Victim Was Impacted By The Media

Perceptions of Crime and the Victim in the Media Name Institution Affiliation Perceptions of Crime and the Victim in the Media Mary’s case received media attention because it involved a teacher and a teenage student. Supposedly, the female teacher had the responsibility of guiding and offering teacher-student assistant and not engaging in other personal interests. Moreover, a 14-year old teenage is young to make relationship decisions with a lady old enough to be his mother. A case, that seemed minor became complex and most sort after due to great attention and flashy headlines given by the media. Instead of concealing the victim, the wide media coverage on the topic would worsen the situation, especially on the victim. For instance, the social status updates were merely discussions on the victim and the offender. The public commented and even made fun of the situation. The Television news, the newspaper headlines, the radio stations, articles and breaking news headlines, all focused on the teacher-student purported relationship (Laureate Education, 2012). Just like the Ramsey case where the Ramsey family became the victims of the media, Mary’s case is no different. The media describes the victim based on his physical appearances as sexually attractive to the teacher. For instance, the newspaper headline reads, “Hot for Teacher.” On the social media platform, one says that the boy is lucky while the radio holds a discussion on a love affair between a 14-year old and a thirty-year lady (Laureate Education, 2012). The victim and family suffer public shame and are subjected to a tarnished reputation. Similarly, the Ramsey suffered years of public humiliation and suspicion over the death of their daughter yet they were innocent. In fact, the media repeatedly doubted their claims of innocence CITATION Cha17 \l 1033 (Montaldo, 2017). The media gives a wide coverage of t...