Experiencing violence in a cross-media environment: an interdisciplinary focus group study

ABSTRACT

Due to drastic changes in the contemporary media environment, criminology needs to examine how the experience of violence is shaped by the emerging cross-media context. We conducted a qualitative focus group study (N = 24) to explore conversations about mediated violence experiences and crime media literacy in Finland, which manifests as an advanced state of cross-media transformation. We found that the cross-media context affects how information on violence and crime is received, as people combine and contrast bits of information from traditional media, social media, alternative media, and direct personal and local knowledge. This constellation of information sources is a fertile ground for distrust, as people challenge the self-regulatory limits of ‘old media’ in reporting on crime and construe such limits as ‘downplaying’ violence. Consistent with the general ‘media-critical’ frame of mind, the interviewees saw crime news media as fear-inducing. Through a focus group of older participants (in addition to three groups of younger participants), we observed generational differences that reflect the dimension of change from the old monolithic media environment to the cross-media context. The new context blurs the distinction between media content and social network-based reception and is thus a game changer for media criminology.

KEYWORDS:

• Crime journalism
• cross-media
• fear of crime
• media literacy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. This research is part of a larger project entitled ‘Views of Violence in a Changing Media Landscape’, which combines qualitative and quantitative methods to explore the sources from which people gather information on violence and how (or if) media use is associated with fear of crime and perceived societal risks.

2. The survey data was based on the Finnish National Crime Survey (FNCS-2017), which was collected in the Fall of 2017. The original sample size was 14,000 and the final number of respondents was 6141 (response rate 43.9%). The participants were aged between 15 and 74 years old. The respondents were selected through random sampling from the Population Information System of Finland.

3. There are studies that question the concept of moral panic, which states that a special focus on violent crimes could increase people’s fear of being a victim oneself. For example, Åkerström (1998) states that so-called moral panics inform us about other people’s attitudes, emotions and behaviour. These evaluations are in accordance with the clues one receives in conversation and with what is reflected in the general discussion at the time. Accordingly, the current climate of opinion could convince people that others are afraid – but not me.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Helsingin Sanomat Foundation [grant number 201600122].