ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we will move away from the media representation of crime and those involved in criminal behaviour, be they offenders, victims or even onlookers affected by the media presentations of crime (as in the cases of moral panics for instance). Here the focus is on the way that the media represent the criminal justice system, and in particular how the major criminal justice agencies are presented in our mass media. The discussion will consider the three major areas or stages of the criminal justice process and the enforcement of the law. First, the police and how they have been represented in the media, then the courts and sentencing and, finally, prisons. In each case, we will look at real life or factual representations and also at how these different areas of our criminal justice system and process are presented in fictional accounts and presentations. It is not always easy to separate out what is fact from fiction – and fictional programmes such as dramas and soap operas will usually try and make their ‘fiction’ as realistic as possible. As Mason (2003) 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’ (p. 5).
