Some people suggest that there should be restrictions on a detailed description of crimes in the newspapers and on television. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

The violent contents broadcasted by the mass media (the

television

and the printing press

in particular

) have been singled out in recent years as a matter of urgent public concern. It has been argued that a detailed description of the

crime

, especially violent

crime

, should be restricted. I agree with

this

suggestion based on the following concerns. There can be little doubt that a complete description of crimes has a direct impact on

viewers perception

Suggestion

the viewer's perception

viewer's perception

of

crime

, including its nature and impacts. Ongoing exposure to reports on

crime

scenes has desensitised viewers to the horrors of serious crimes

such

as homicide. Many TV programmes tend to dramatise the process of tracing criminals. So immersed are viewers in the storyline that few are encouraged to link the

crime

to a brutal, unsympathetic and devastating act. Meanwhile, hardly has any newspaper or TV editor carried out a follow-up study of convicted criminals.

This

form of representation fails to alert viewers to the fact that no criminal can stay at large and all offenders will be brought to justice. Meanwhile, the depiction of

violence

is potentially the primary cause of "copycat" suicides, fights, shootings and bombings. People are inclined to vent their discontent in various ways, and one of the most common is

violence

. The documentary on a criminal or violent act provides them with role models, those characters who initiate most of the acts of

violence

on

television

. The portrayal of those characters encourages viewers to emulate violent behaviour, believing that their acts are likely to be acknowledged. Despite its enormous effects on the

audience

, the description of crimes on

television

or newspapers should not be made a scapegoat for all social

violence

. It would divert people's attention from the root causes of

violence

. Some depictions of

violence

are likely to contribute to harmful effects on viewers, whereas other portrayals may be pro-social and beneficial for the

audience

.

For example

, many programmes encourage no-violent alternatives to solutions.

Similarly

,

television

and newspapers have played a significant role in educating the

audience

about the advantages of building a non-

violence

community and the inadvisability of excessive drinking, car racing, drug-using and other unlawful acts. As suggested above, media

violence

, including the detailed picturing of violent acts, contributes at least partly to social

violence

and to the

audience

's aggressive thoughts and behaviour.

However

, there is no simple cause-and-effect relationship between media

violence

and societal

violence

and both have multiple causes.