textual analysis

  The use of the non-diegetic  sound such as sirens and action style music connotes entertainment and creates Engima codes within the text.
-          The significance of this connotation is that it keeps that audience attracted to the program because they are interested in finding out what is going to happen.
-          There are a range of non verbal symbols in the text. The main symbol is the police uniform that is worn by the Police. This uniform symbolises strength, power, safety and unity and is easily recognisable.

-          The facial expressions used within this text mainly smiles and showing a different (real/unreal) representation that we as the public are not used to seeing.-          The soundtrack of this text is important and is usually the same between other police factual programs. The soundtrack is often high tempo and is composed around a siren which is symbiotically a symbol representing the police on an international scale.-          These programs also have a running commentary throughout the program which is used to explain situations from the point of view of the police.-          This text is reminiscent of the expository documentary style due to the styles and conventions shared. Also the use of the hand held camera is used to add a sense of realism to the text which therefore adds a thrill unattainable whilst watching fiction programs.-          The main colours associated with this text are blue red yellow and black, all colours that are easily relatable to the police. These colours often connote danger and emergency which makes this text more action packed. -          The narrative is structured very easily and is almost identical to the theory of narrative by the theorist Todorov.-          First there is an equilibrium which is maintained by the patrol of the police. There is then a disturbance often associated with a criminal which throws the narrative into disequilibrium and the criminal is then dealt with swiftly by the police restoring equilibrium.-          The audience is positioned behind the police. This could be a subliminal message reminding the audience that they are being protected by the police and that they are on the front line of crime.-          The way that heroes and villains are created can be linked back to Propps theory of characters. The heroes are created by Analysis of ‘Road Wars’-          The use of the non-diegetic  sound such as sirens and action style music connotes entertainment and creates Engima codes within the text.
-          The significance of this connotation is that it keeps that audience attracted to the program because they are interested in finding out what is going to happen.
-          There are a range of non verbal symbols in the text. The main symbol is the police uniform that is worn by the Police. This uniform symbolises strength, power, safety and unity and is easily recognisable.
-          The facial expressions used within this text mainly smiles and showing a different (real/unreal) representation that we as the public are not used to seeing.
-          The soundtrack of this text is important and is usually the same between other police factual programs. The soundtrack is often high tempo and is composed around a siren which is symbiotically a symbol representing the police on an international scale.
-          These programs also have a running commentary throughout the program which is used to explain situations from the point of view of the police.
-          This text is reminiscent of the expository documentary style due to the styles and conventions shared. Also the use of the hand held camera is used to add a sense of realism to the text which therefore adds a thrill unattainable whilst watching fiction programs.
-          The main colours associated with this text are blue red yellow and black, all colours that are easily relatable to the police. These colours often connote danger and emergency which makes this text more action packed.]
 -          The narrative is structured very easily and is almost identical to the theory of narrative by the theorist Todorov.
-          First there is an equilibrium which is maintained by the patrol of the police. There is then a disturbance often associated with a criminal which throws the narrative into disequilibrium and the criminal is then dealt with swiftly by the police restoring equilibrium.
-          The audience is positioned behind the police. This could be a subliminal message reminding the audience that they are being protected by the police and that they are on the front line of crime.
-          The way that heroes and villains are created can be linked back to Propps theory of characters. The heroes are created by allowing them to have  personality and speak there side of the story whilst the villans are created by labelling theory and sterotypes as suggested by Perkins
-          Identication is employed via the use of jokes and ideologies that are portrayed by the police (real/unreal)
-          This program belongs to the documentary/reality tv genre. It is a hybrid genre because the codes and conventions of both can be found easily within this text.

Academic Research

Portrayals of crime, race, and aggression in “reality‐based” police shows: A content analysis






“Although the possible effects of these programs on viewers’ attitudes are unclear at this point, some researchers have suggested that portrayals of crime related topics in fictional police programs mat serve to cultivate perceptions of a ‘mean and dangerous’ world, to enhance positive perceptions of the police” -






http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08838159409364255#preview






This quote links in well with my critical investigation because what these researchers have suggested is exactly what I have found as the main reason for why programs such as ‘Road Wars’ and ‘Police, Camera, Action’ have sensationalised the police and is what my critical investigation hopes to support.













Children’s viewing of crime shows and attitudes on law enforcement






“VIEWING OF CRIME SHOWS WAS POSITIVELY CORRELATED WITH (1) IDENTIFICATION WITH A TELEVISION CHARACTER ASSOCIATED WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT; (2) BELIEF THAT CRIMINALS USUALLY GET CAUGHT”






https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=64933






My research on this topic and been consistently based on the reaction of an adult audience, whoever this research has shown me a completely different angle to which I could approach my critical investigation. Perhaps it is arguable that these types of program could be instead targeted at young members of the audience. This can be supported by the cartoon like styles that have been integrated into these program types.












“The representation of the police over time can be viewed as the gradual erosion of respect and authority” - MediaMagazine -






This quote can be argued to be true because time and time again we see the police involved in controversy which does lead to the gradual erosion of respect and authority for the police.




www.englishandmedia.co.uk/mm/index.html





"With the Stephen Lawrence case in 1993, the reputation of the police fell to an all-time low" -





The inquiry into why Lawrence’s murder was not properly investigated and why his killers weren’t prosecuted made headline news throughout the 1990s, culminating with the Macpherson Report of 1999, which found that the Metropolitan Police was a racist organisation, suffering from institutional racism.




www.britsoccrim.org/volume5/003.pdf





"Fetveit (1999) notes that the reality television show relies on three types of visual evidence, 'authentic footage from camera crews observing arrests or rescue operations; footage from surveillance videos and recordings (often by amateurs) of dramatic accidents and dangerous situations'. The reality police show is predominantly shot using camera crews and surveillance videos." - www.britsoccrim.org/volume5/003.pdf






The programs that I am basing my critical investigation on follow Fetviet's findings. These programs follow a expository documentary style. This can be seen by the use of hand held camera and the lack of a voice over. Also, these programs are in fact real life footage gathered from either amateur recordings and footage shot using camera crews.




www.britsoccrim.org/volume5/003.pdf




"At the same time, the public widely perceived they had lost the presence of the community policeman on the beat." -


This quote links in well with my linked production. Programs such as 'Road Wars' and 'Police, Camera, Action!' has sensationalised the police so much that they have made the audience feel as if they are always chasing criminals in car chases and flying around in helicopters rather than just patrolling the local community.



http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/onlinessays/JC42folder/UKpoliceShows.html




"Power in this new type of society, has drained deeply into the gestures, actions, discourses and practical knowledge of everyday lives."


This programs can be related to Althusser Ideological state apparatus  because they use these texts as a form of suppressing a revolution. This can be seen by the themes and narrative of the text. In short, 'all the texts seem to display criminals that always take a wrong turn into a dead alleyway' meaning that they always seem to get caught strengthening the idea that a revolution will fail.

By using these programs to control the ideology of audience, this in turn has 'has drained deeply into the gestures, actions, discourses and practical knowledge of everyday lives' because we take into consideration of the high level of competence of the police and therefore choose to continue to live using a capitalist system because we are scared to revolt. However, before making this argument we must first consider how much these types of programs have an affect on the behaviour of audiences. As Palmer puts it 'These programs are about constructing a new citizenship through fear.'





"Given that most people rarely encounter the police in crime-related incidents and that only 40% have any contact with the police in a twelve-month period, exciting technologically-driven television programs about the police cannot help but inform people's perception of law enforcement agents as controllers rather than carers."





These statistics are interesting from a media perspective because although this is a documentary style programs, they clearly lacks social realism because they are unrepresentative of what happens in reality. "harnessed both to the needs of policing and the journalistic value of offering verisimilitude to the audience."Despite the fact only '40%' have no contact with the police in a twelve month period, programs such as 'Road Wars' and 'Police, Camera, Action' depict a police force that seem to be everywhere, arresting everyone and controlling the streets when in reality they are carers instead of controllers of the streets.

books.google.co.uk/books?isbn=1857286936

BIBLIOGRAPHY

 Kidd-Hewitt, David, "Crime and the Media: A Criminological Perspective" inCrime and the Media: The Post-Modern Spectacle. Eds. Kidd-Hewitt, D. and Osbourne, Richard (London: Pluto Press, 1995)

Corner, John. The Art of Record (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1997), p. 190.

Tagg, John. "Power and Photography: A Means of Surveillance" in Culture, Ideology and Social Process. Eds. Bennett, Tony; Martin, Graham; Mercer, Cohn; and Woollacott, Janet (London: Batsford Academic, 1981),

Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish. (London: Penguin, 1991).

Graef, Roger. Talking Blues. (London: Collins/Harvill, 1989), p. 72.

Bennett, Tony. "Recent Developments in Community Policing" in Police Force/Police Service: Care and Control in Britain. Eds. Stephens, M. and Becker, S. (London: Macmillan, 1994), p. 125.

Osbourne, Richard. "Crime and the Media" in Crime and the Media: The Post-Modern Spectacle.

Davies, Simon. Big Brother (London: Macmillan, 1995), p. 152.

Osbourne, p.26.

Gearty, Comer and Ewing, Keith, "History of a Dog's Dinner: The Police Bill,"London Review of Books. Feb. 6, 1977, pp. 7-10.

O'Malley, Tom, Closedown? The BBC and Government Broadcasting Policy, 1979-92 (London: Pluto Press, 1994), p. 178.

Kilborn, Richard, "The New Production Context for Documentary in Britain,"Media, Culture and Society, 18:1.

Schlesinger, Philip and Tumber, Howard, Reporting Crime: The Media Politics of Criminal Justice (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994), p. 252.

M. Stephens and S. Becker, "The Matrix of Care and Control," Police Force/Police Service, p. 224.

Ratings for POLICE: CAMERA: ACTION derived from Broadcast magazinefor 1998 season, April 1998.

Hall, Stuart; Critcher, Charles; Jefferson Tony; Clarke, John; and Roberts, Brian, Policing the Crisis: Mugging, the State and Law and Order (London: Macmillan, 1978).

Reiner, Rob. "The Changing Image of the TV Cop" in Stephens and Becker, p.21.

Osbourne, R., p.27

Best, Steve and Kellner, Douglas, Postmodern Theory (London: Macmillan, 1991), pp. 295/6.

Golding, Peter, "Political Communication and Citizenship: The Media and Democracy in an Inegalitarian Social Order" in Public Communication: The New Imperatives, Ed. Marjorie Ferguson (London: Sage. 1990), p. 98

Historical Text Analysis

Due to the very specific type of program that my critical investigation is based on, unfortunately there is a lack of pre 1990’s material that can be used to compare to my chosen text. There is one text called ‘Police 5’. This program was first aired in 1962 and was a crime discussion show presented by Shaw Taylor. This program is very different to the modern versions of this text. Police 5 did not have any of the reconstructions, special effects or stage that we see and take for granted on the modern CrimeWatch.

Social: Unlike the modern Crimewatch, Police 5 did not have any female presenters. This can be linked back to the lack of women’s equality within society during the 1960’s where due to a patriarchal society, women were nothing more than house wives and mothers and had very little influence within society.   

Historical: Police 5 was a crime discussion show presented by Shaw Taylor. It was very simple and did not share any of the codes and conventions that are present in modern day versions of this program. Police 5 was a pioneering, early version of Crimestoppers and Crimewatch  produced in association with Scotland Yard. The difference is the program types can be linked back to the lack of technological advancements that been around during this time period; for example camera that could be used outside of a studio to film reconstructions.