New Subject - Critical Research

The start of a new year means a new course in Media Studies.
So this course is about 'Critical Research'.

Out of the few topics given to the students to choose from, i have decided to make a go of starting with 'Crime And The Media'
With the news filling up with many negatives now, crime seems to be one of the main stories in a media product every day, whether it is in a newspaper or a broadcast.
My main area of focus still hasn't been decided yet as i am still to think of a hypothesis over the next few weeks, however i am thinking that it may be best to stick to teenagers or young adults and their connection with injuries or murder throughout the nation.
The point of discussion that made me consider this particular topic was the talk of Gordon Brown wanting to lower the age of prosecution of carrying a weapon from 18 to 16 years old as already there have been 34 teen murders throughout the nation, 16 of these being in London by knife.
I feel this area of debate is an open one and will be one to go on for a very long time as it dominates the media now and most likely will until something is actually done about it.
I would also like to explore whether the media change some facts or fiddle with the actual truth for a better news story, such as making out the victim to be totally innocent when they most likely weren't and involved in gang crime which brought their death upon them.

The type of media can have an effect on the audience as well with certain tabloids describing attacks such as being 'brutal' and other newspapers, like broadsheets, subtly commenting on the actual attack. This can also be mirrored in broadcasting as well as the news reader is a lot more 'posh' and well read so the information is given to the audience but descriptions of it are, again, subtly hinted.