Representations of the Police in the British Media: “Hard” Cops and “Soft” Cops

The focus of this brief overview is on the way that the media represent the criminal justice system, and in particular how the police are presented in our mass media. It considers real-life or factual representations and also how the police are portrayed in fictional accounts and presentations. It is not always easy to separate out what is fact from fiction-and fictional programs such as dramas and soap operas will usually try and make their “fiction” as realistic as possible. As Mason puts it: “Audiences ‘commuting’ between the realms of factual news and entertainment programming has implications for public perceptions of law enforcement agencies, the courts and prisons as well as offenders and victims” (2003, 5).