Citation

Erickson RV. Br. J. Criminol. 1991; 31(3): 219-249.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1991, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, Publisher Oxford University Press)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Research addressing the effects of mass media on individuals is limited because it does not account for how mass communications involve human agency, various technologies, and social institutions. Recent studies show the mass media to be more open, diverse, pervasive, and influential than most researchers have argued. The mass media do not merely report on events but rather participate directly in processes by which events are constituted and exist in the world. The mass media do not stand apart from people and the various arenas in which they seek justice but are integral to their everyday processes for seeking justice. However, in the very process of participating in these various arenas of justice the mass media expose their own injustices which become subject to regulation and reform.