Crime and Justice in the Media: Comparing and Contrasting Music and Newspaper Articles

Introduction

             Media has been categorized into two purposes.  That is, all media is either entertainment or information-based devices that provide individuals with information about their society and depictions that amuse them (Lüders, Prøitz, & Rasmussen, 2012; McQuail, 1992).  Additionally, media in contemporary society has the ability to produce profound impacts on individuals and society at large (Drowning, 2010; Gamson & Wolfsfeld, 1993; McCurdy, 2012).  The conveyances can be formatted to fit political agendas, personal likes and dislikes, present information, as well as generate social movements because of its content (Hepp, 2012; Hjarvard, 2008; Mattoni & Treré, 2014).  Music and newspapers are two of these media devices, and they have the power to perform the above-mentioned actions.  Moreover, because music is an outlet for expressions it has the ability to allow people to identify with musical outputs who share the same or similar thoughts and beliefs as the elements in the musical piece (Hudson, 2006; Stokes, 1994).  This, at times, includes opinions about social issues and public service agencies and the practitioners who are employed by the governmental organizations.  Many of these musical deliverances express disdain towards criminal justice professionals and, in turn, acquire support and attention because of the aforementioned ability of music to deliver expressions that capture how others think and feel about a topic (Donovan & Klahm, 2015; Dowler, 2013; Gracyk, 2001). 

In contrast, newspapers are mostly utilized for informational purposes.  Many citizens read the articles in newspapers to gather important and factual information and to learn what is going on in their communities, country, and other nations (Stone & Wetherington, 1979; Zebra, 2011).  Journalists cover an array of events and, in most cases, do not present opinionated materials to the public.  Writers of criminal justice topics in newspapers have an obligation to only write about facts and basic information (Bartzen-Culver, 2014; Geis, 2012).  Because of the lack of artistic value, newspapers often present criminal justice professionals in a favorable light because there is not a premise of creativity or ability to have personal opinions by the authors. 

Again, newspapers stick to the facts of an event because they do not want to be viewed as biased in their deliverances of news and other exhibits.  Criminal justice professionals are not attacked in newspapers with the resentment that many musicians present in their media.  Of this, the underlying argument in this paper is that many lyrics in musical creations depict criminal justice professionals in an unfavorable manner, whereas newspapers depict criminal justice professionals in a favorable opinion because of the purpose of its content and external and internal controls.  Numerous examples will be implemented in order to verify the previously mentioned argument.  Second to this, academic research will be cited to further validate the aforementioned argument and to present scientific evidence that will allow the reader to comprehend how media creates perceptions because of personal opinions and factual content. 

Academic Research on Lyrics and Depictions of Criminal Justice Professionals

                Researchers have analyzed the lyrics in music and made many important findings on the subject.  Most of the research about lyrics that depicts criminal justice professionals in a detrimental manner always suggests that the musicians are doing two things.  That is, expressing their concerns about social experiences and promoting specific thoughts and behaviors about law enforcers (Hirsch, 2012; Krohn, & Suazo, 1995).  Elaborating further, the studies that have been performed on the subject usually include a social psychological approach and include a discussion about the secondary impacts of musical creations for its listeners.  Second to this, academic research on the subject is often curtailed to criminal activities and how the lyrics influence specific behaviors (Payne, 2012; Salimpoor, Benvoy, Larcher, & Zatorre, 2011; Stuckey & Nobel, 2010).  For instance, studies have shown that youths and mentally ill persons are influenced the most and that some of their criminal behaviors occurred because of the slander of law enforcement in the songs that they listened to (Anderson, Carnegy, & Eubanks, 2003; Arnett, 1991; Hansen & Hansen, 1991; Mulder, ter Bogt, Raaijmakers, & Vollenberg, 2007; Negut & Sârbescu, 2013.

Social scientists have also examined specific genres of music and suggested that particular types of music have more dissenting opinions about law enforcement professionals than others (Alridge, 2005; Steinmetz & Henderson, 2012).  More specifically, much of the research on critical lyrical content about criminal justice-related topics suggests that hip-hop and rock music are the primary genres and cause more influence on listeners than other formats of musical endeavors (Arnett, 1991; Carpenter, Knobloch, & Zillman, 2003; Gardikiotis & Baltzis, 2011).  Cynical lyrics in hip-hop music tends to be associated with violent behaviors, whereas the research on the critical lyrics in rock music tends to act as a catalyst for activism about unfavorable actions by criminal justice professionals (Carpenter, Knobloch, & Zillman, 2003; Gardikiotis & Baltzis, 2011; Johnson, Jackson, & Gatto, 1995; Martinez, 1997).  Other genres of music that contain pessimistic lyrics about criminal justice professionals – such as country, mainstream pop music, and reggae – tend not to influence human behavior as much as the more offensive materials that are found within hip-hop and rock music (Laing, 1985; Tanner, Asbridge, & Wortley, 2009; Trier-Bieniek, 2012; Vannini & Waskul, 2006).     
 

Moreover, and most importantly, research has shown that music is the primary media device that depicts law enforcers in a negative fashion (Binder, 1993; Pond Cummings, 2010; Kurbin & Nielson, 2014; Steinmetz & Henderson, 2012; Stokes, 1994).  Specifically, as the lyrical content of music is examined, researchers had postulated that much of the derogatory depictions in lyrical content causes long-term influences on its listeners and thus act as an incitement that returns the listeners to more music listening that depicts law enforcers in an unfavorable light than other forms of media (Deutsch, 1982; Hargreaves & North, 1997).  This is confirmed with the understanding that individuals identify with musical genres and particular lyrical content because of their personal beliefs and experiences in life.  In other words, music – and not other media devices – has been shown to be the primary media device that depicts law enforcers negatively because of its ability to cause emotions because the listeners/users select which music they want to listen to based on personal preferences and the feelings that they undergoing (Deutsch, 1982; Hargreaves & North, 1997).  Basically, there is more of a personalization and social perception aspect that makes music the main media device that depicts law enforcers in a derogatory fashion when compared to other forms of media (Deutsch, 1982; Hargreaves & North, 1997).

Music Depicting Criminal Justice Professionals in an Unfavorable Fashion

              Since the advent of amplification and audio recording, music has gone through massive transitions for the past seventy years (Altschuler, 2003; Stuessy & Lipscomb, 2013).  Some of these transitions have been generated by social movements and dissent towards injustices and oppressions that are either unregulated or condoned by government agencies (Altschuler, 2003; Stuessy & Lipscomb, 2013).  As aforementioned, music is an outlet to express emotions and thoughts, and the music in the latter half of the twentieth century and first two decades of the twenty-first century has had an abundance of music that conveys disdain towards governmental actions – which includes activities by criminal justice practitioners (Altschuler, 2003; Stuessy & Lipscomb, 2013).  Almost every genre of music brings up topics about dishonest, corrupt, and other indecent behaviors by the professionals who work in the criminal justice system.  For example, and starting with the onset of rebellious music in the 1950s, rock n’ roll musicians routinely scrutinized criminal justice professionals because of their beliefs about injustices by law enforcement professionals and the civil rights protests that were ongoing (Altschuler, 2003; Stuessy & Lipscomb, 2013).  A clearer understanding of this notion can be presented with the lyrics of numerous musicians during these times of civil unrest.   Bob Dylan’s (Dylan, 1962, track 9) song “Emmett Till” projects unfavorable thoughts about the criminal justice system in a anti-racism manner.  Specifically, the song was about a lynching of a fourteen-year old African American boy, and the accused offenders were exonerated via an all-White jury.  In verbatim, Dylan (Dylan, 1962, track 9) sings:

And then to stop the United States of yelling for a trial,
two brothers they confessed that they had killed poor Emmett Till.
But on the jury there were men who helped the brothers commit this awful crime, and so this trial was a mockery, but nobody seemed to mind.

I saw the morning papers, but I could not bear to see.
The smiling brothers walkin' down the courthouse stairs.
For the jury found them innocent and the brothers they went free.
While Emmett's body floats the foam of a Jim Crow southern sea.

If you can't speak out against this kind of thing, a crime that's so unjust, your eyes are filled with dead mens’ dirt, your mind is filled with dust.

Your arms and legs they must be in shackles and chains, and your blood it must refuse to flow, for you let this human race fall down so God-awful low!

            These lyrics confirm the argument within this paper and demonstrate how music is used to not only criticize criminal justice practitioners and their actions, but to also allow listeners to embrace the content in the songs and, in turn, do something about the injustices that the musicians present (Altschuler, 2003; Stuessy & Lipscomb, 2013).  Moreover, as Dylan’s (Dylan, 1962, track 9) song highlights the contradictions of equal justice in the United States’ criminal justice system, it should be noted that public demonstrations about the biased actions of the criminal justice practitioners in 1950s was met with harsh discrimination by law enforcers (Altschuler, 2003; Stuessy & Lipscomb, 2013).  These instances gave musicians more real-life experiences to sing about, and the 1960s boomed with music about uncanny conduct of criminal justice practitioners (Altschuler, 2003; Stuessy & Lipscomb, 2013).  Another example can be used to verify the argument that music has a large body of dissenting content about professionals in the criminal justice system.  J.B. Lenoir (Lenoir, 1965, track 1), an African American blues musician, wrote a song about police officers in the southern United States killing African Americans and using the criminal justice system to continue the discrimination that was found during earlier times in the country’s history.  Precisely, the lyrics are as followed:

I never will go back to Alabama, that is not the place for me,

I never will go back to Alabama, that is not the place for me.

You know they killed my sister and my brother, and the whole world let them peoples go down there free.

I never will love Alabama, Alabama seem to never have loved poor me.

I never will love Alabama, Alabama seem to never have loved poor me.

Oh God, I wish you would rise up one day.

Lead my peoples to the land of pea'.

My brother was taken up for my mother, and a police officer shot him down, my brother was taken up for my mother, and a police officer shot him down.

I can't help but to sit down and cry sometimes.

Think about how my poor brother lost his life.

Alabama, Alabama, why you wanna be so mean,

Alabama, Alabama, why you wanna be so mean.

You got my people behind a barbwire fence, now you tryin' to take my freedom away from me.   

Once more, these lyrics give merit to the argument that music usually portrays criminal justice professionals in an unflattering light, and that music is an expression of the disdain that people feel from their experiences.  Secondly, the liking of this song by many people verifies the idea that music allows other people to identify with oppressions that they believe are unethical.  As the civil unrest continued throughout the 1960s, the music in the 1970s was also saturated with negative perceptions against legal professionals (Altschuler, 2003; Stuessy & Lipscomb, 2013).  In this decade, rock n’ roll music became more mainstream than ever before, and the musicians used their platform to present ideologies about the criminal justice system and its professionals being full of contradictions in their claims of equally enforcing the criminal laws in the United States.  For instance, a song by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young (Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young, 1970) titled “Ohio” depicted an event of students being threatened with arrest for their protestations against the Vietnam War, and as the students refused to vacate the premises of the protestations, shootings occurred that killed four students.  The guards who shot the students were eventually cleared of any wrongdoing.  Particularly, the song’s lyrics are:

Tin soldiers and Nixon's coming.
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming.
Four dead in Ohio.

Gotta get down to it.
Soldiers are gunning us down.
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her and found her dead on the ground.
How can you run when you know?

Gotta get down to it.
Soldiers are gunning us down.
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her and found her dead on the ground.
How can you run when you know?

Tin soldiers and Nixon's coming.
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming.
Four dead in Ohio.
Four dead in Ohio.    

   

            Arguments could be made about how the lyrics in this song are more political than centered on criminal justice professionals.  However, the facts of the situation being conveyed included decisions by politicians who create criminal laws and support ideas that are involved with the criminal justice procedures in the United States. The fact remains that police officers were present during the protests, and courtroom procedures took place that eventually dismissed the charges against the shooters at the protests.  Once more, the lyrics in music – when focused on criminal justice professionals – describes them as performing injustices that, in turn, make them appear inappropriate in their profession. 

            The 1980s included the onset of mainstream hip-hop music, and it was this genre of music that had more of a focus of presenting disdain about criminal justice professionals than other types of music in the past or present.  N.W.A. (Young, Wright, Jackson, Carraby, Patterson, Curry, Nazel, 1988, track 2), a hip-hop group from California, transformed the music industry with their song “Fuck the Police.”  Furthermore, the lyrics about police officers were so brash that the song caused a national debate about the content and the song was viewed as inappropriate by law enforcement professionals and many others in the United States.  Specifically, a section of the song states:

Fuck the police coming straight from the underground,
A young nigga got it bad 'cause I'm brown.
And not the other color so police think they have the authority to kill a minority.
Fuck that shit, 'cause I ain't the one for a punk motherfucker with a badge and a gun to be beating on and thrown in jail. 
We can go toe-to-toe in the middle of a cell.
Fucking with me ‘cause I’m a teenager with a little bit of gold and a pager.
Searching my car, looking for the product, thinking every nigga is selling narcotics.

The content within the above-referenced song, again, verifies the idea that most musical depictions about criminal justice professionals are negative.  This is a common theme within hip-hop music, and N.W.A. used music to express ideas that many others can agree with.  Nonetheless, the example provides merit to the argument of how music in different generations and styles still have similar content regarding disdain towards criminal justice practitioners.   

As the 1980s hip-hop music made its impact on views on criminal justice professionals, the hostility flowed through the 1990s and it was this genre that became the primary music that expressed negative interpretations about criminal justice practitioners.  Essentially, hip-hop artists recognized the success of the musicians in the 1980s that presented unfiltered music about their thoughts on police officers, lawyers, and corrections personnel.  Due to this success and the discrimination that, unfortunately, occurred in African American culture, hip-hop transitioned into a channel that was synonymous with pessimistic views about law enforcers (Binder, 1993; Pond Cummings, 2010).  Another example of how music mostly presents criminal justice professionals in a negative fashion can be illustrated with a mainstream hip-hop artist, KRS-One (Parker, 1993, track 7), in the early 1990s and his song “Sound of da Police.”  Particularly, the lyrics are as followed:

The overseer rode around the plantation, the officer is off patrolling all the nation.
The overseer could stop you what you're doing, the officer will pull you over just when he's pursuing.
The overseer had the right to get ill , and if you fought back, the overseer had the right to kill.
The officer has the right to arrest, and if you fight back they put a hole in your chest!
They both ride horses after 400 years, I've got no choices!
The police them have a little gun, so when I'm on the streets, I walk around with a bigger one.
I hear it all day, just so they can run the light and be upon their way.  

             

As previously stated, most genres of music encompass some form of dissent against the criminal justice system and its operatives.  Not only does this song discuss discrimination by police officers, it relates the identified prejudices to African American slavery in the United States.  During this same era (early 1990s), punk and ska musicians elaborated their thoughts and feelings about practitioners in the criminal justice system too.  An example can be delivered with Sublime’s (Nowell, Wilson, & Gaugh, 1996, track 5) song “April 29, 1992.”  The lyrics state:

But if you look at the streets, it wasn't about Rodney King.
It's about this fucked up situation and these fucked up police.
It's about coming up and staying on top, and screamin' 187 on a mother fuckin' cop.
It's not written on the paper, it's on the wall.
National Guard!
Smoke from all around!

The lyrics in this song highlight the riots in the early 1990s after the acquittal of police officers in the Rodney King case.  Moreover, the lyrics do describe the criminal justice system, and especially the police officers, in an enemy-like manner.  Musicians used the situations in society during this time to vent frustrations that they had and, in turn, created a following because of the shared beliefs from many other citizens. 

After the music during the height of strict drugs laws and law enforcement practices in the early 1990s, another genre of music became known for its exhibitions towards criminal justice practitioners.  Being more precise, rap-metal was becoming trendy, and the musicians in this genre used the musical platform to express their derisions about criminal justice professionals.  One of the pioneers of rap-metal, Rage Against the Machine (de la Rocha, Commerford, Morello, & Wilk, 1992, track 7), wrote a song titled “Wake Up” and serves as an example.  The lyrics state:

Departments of police, the judges, the feds.
Networks at work, keepin’ people calm.
You know they went after King, when he spoke out on Vietnam.
He turned the power to the have-nots, and then came the shot!    

            These lyrics not only depict law enforcement professionals in an illegitimate fashion, but also go as far as to implement them in conspiracy theories against civil rights leaders in the past.  Withal, the lyrics provide a channel for people who share similar opinions to vent their frustrations and to gather with others who share similar philosophies about government officials – which includes criminal justice practitioners.  Moving to the twenty-first century, as well as presenting the dissent in various musical genres, this period of time had an array of musical compositions that presented negative images about criminal justice professionals as well.  Country music had a new-found glory in the twenty-first century, and the musicians in this genre and era performed similar activities that the musicians in the previous decades had conducted.  James Hand (Hand, 2012, track 6), a country musician, produced a song in 2012 about police officers killing a senior citizen who was reaching for his cane that was mistaken for a firearm.  The exact verbiage is:

Forty rifles raised, from forty men half crazed.

As the bullets struck all around him, his house it caught ablaze.

Forty rifles then, raised and fired again.

As the fatal bullets hit him, Henry fell across Mary’s grave.

A man of ninety-seven years, lay dead upon the ground.

As his soul winged up to heaven, a gentle rain came down.

Henry laid across his Mary, their little home a pile of ash.

Nothing left but the memories, they got their damned highway at last.

   

            These lyrics, again, confirm the argument that music usually depicts law enforcement professionals in an unfavorable light.  The idea that police officers are “trigger-happy” people who perform serious injustices is not only presented, but also transitions into personal perceptions as the fans absorb the content for entertainment and interpret the lyrics. 

            With the examples being presented, the next section will discuss the scientific evidence that has been conducted that validates the argument of newspapers typically depicting criminal justice professionals with a favorable deliverance because of the purposes for this type of media and external and internal controls that are associated with this specific media. 

Academic Research on Newspapers Depicting Criminal Justice Professionals in a Favorable Manner

            
              Academics have analyzed criminal justice-related topics in contemporary newspapers and inferred that many of the depictions present law enforcement professionals in a favorable light (Foyster, 2007; Geis, 2012; Hess & Waller, 2012; Jeffres, Lee, Neuendorf, & Atkin, 2007).  These findings have been found to occur because of two main variables.  That is, newspapers focus on providing information and are not creative outlets like other forms of media, and because of the routine public service coverage in newspaper articles the journalists – and newspaper companies in general – do not desire to be viewed as biased in their writings (Jeffres, Atkin, Lee, & Neuendorf, 2011; Lazaroiu, 2011).  Case in point, newspapers are media devices that claim to depict facts and are not supposed to be politically-motivated materials and have business practices involved in their writings. 

            Researchers have presented findings that suggest that positive depictions of law enforcers come from the goal of reaching a wider audience (Gader, 2002; Hickey, 1998; Lazaroiu, 2011).  Elaborating further, newspapers do not depict criminal justice professionals in a negative connotation because of financial reasons (Gader, 2002, Hickey, 1998, Lazaroiu, 2011; Overholser, 2004).  Being biased or delivering opinionated materials about law enforcers has the ability to diminish readers; therefore, newspapers rely on generalization about realistic situations so that everyone can read a newspaper without a personal opinion being given to them (Gader, 2002, Hickey, 1998, Lazaroiu, 2011; Overholser, 2004).  Another financial reason contributes to newspapers not depicting criminal justice professionals in a negative manner.  That is, newspapers rely on advertisement placement for their success, and some of the organizations that pay for advertising do not want to be affiliated with dissenting materials about public figures (Foyster, 2007; Jeffres, Atkin, Lee, & Neuendorf, 2011; Lazaroiu, 2011).  Scholarship has indicated that newspapers will not present derogatory articles about criminal justice professionals because of the support of police departments, prosecutors, and corrections personnel by external organizations that converse with newspaper companies (Foyster, 2007; Jeffres, Atkin, Lee, & Neuendorf, 2011; Lazaroiu, 2011). 

            Other fears by newspaper companies has also been researched by scholars.  Even with First Amendment rights in the United States, social scientists have explicated that journalists do not present overly critical pieces about criminal justice professionals for two main reasons.  That is, writers are concerned about lawsuits and the connections that criminal justice professionals have with the legal system (Denniston, 1992; Jeffres, Atkin, Lee, & Neuendorf, 2011; Stevens, 1991).  More precisely, research has shown that newspaper companies do not want to hinder any public relations efforts, be targeted by legal professionals, or deal with legal situations that, again, deplete profits (Foyster, 2007; Jeffres, Atkin, Lee, & Neuendorf, 2011; Lazaroiu, 2011).  Finally, research has indicated that newspapers usually only criticize criminal justice professionals when there is a large social movement about a serious matter.  That is, when corruption, wrongful deaths and convictions, or abuses of power are known the newspapers will use the information and write a critical piece about criminal justice professionals (Donovan & Klahm, 2015; Dowler, 2003; Drowning, 2010).  Other than this, many newspapers tend to keep a “clean” image of criminal justice professionals.

            With the major research findings on newspaper depictions about criminal justice professionals being presented, the following section will confirm the argument that newspapers usually present law enforcers in a positive manner.  Examples from newspapers around the United States will be implemented to validate the concept in the above-mentioned argument. 

Newspapers Depicting Criminal Justice Professionals in a Favorable Fashion

            
             Starting with an example from USA Today, the article is written by the Commissioner of the New York City Police Department and the Chief of Crime Control Strategies and discusses how CompStat – a computer-based program that delivers crime statistics – has ensured better policing methods in New York City.  Moreover, the article discusses how police officers are able to be better informed and, in turn, able to better help the community that they serve.  A section of the article states:

As it happens, CompStat is helping NYPD manage this complex transition in its patrol methodology.  Unlike CompStat’s critics, who vaguely imagine an idealized community policing future, New York police have actually put the structure in place to make neighborhood policing a reality.

Since its inception in 1994, CompStat has ensured better community service and crime fighting across New York City. Now, with the added innovation of neighborhood policing, the NYPD is taking the next step toward stronger police/community alliances. But the department is not jettisoning CompStat.  It's building on it with the confidence that neighborhood policing will be as lasting and effective an innovation as CompStat has been.

            This article confirms that argument that newspaper usually present criminal justice professionals with an optimistic connotation.  Obvious biases exist because of the authors; however, there is still a purpose to depict police officers – and the criminal justice system in general – in a positive manner.  Community relations is referred to and the police officers are depicted as proactive in their profession and successful in their community contact initiatives. 

Other mainstream newspapers perform similar agendas, and prosecutors are often highlighted by newspapers with a story that includes ending prosecutions for particular offenses and offering rehabilitation instead of incarceration.  Second to this, newspaper articles also routinely depict prosecutors in a beneficial fashion by presenting their political stances about reforms.  A portion of an article from The New York Times serves as an example.  In verbatim:

These women and men are at the forefront of a new generation of local and state law-enforcement officials, most elected in 2015 and 2016, who are working to change the national conversation about the proper role of the prosecutor – one of the most powerful yet least understood jobs in the justice system.

Just a few years ago, it was political suicide for a district attorney almost anywhere to profess anything less than total allegiance to the death penalty, or to seeking the harshest punishments available in every case.

Times are changing.  As capital punishment’s many flaws have become impossible to ignore, its use has dwindled.  The number of new death sentences and executions continues to drop – only 30 people were sentenced to death nationwide in 2016, and 20 were executed. Prosecutors aren’t just seeking fewer death sentences; they’re openly turning against the practice, even in places where it has traditionally been favored.

Reformist prosecutors are also changing how they handle non-capital offenses, which make up the vast majority of prosecutions. Kim Foxx, the new state’s attorney in Cook County, Ill., which includes Chicago, ordered her prosecutors in December not to bring felony charges in shoplifting cases involving less than $1,000 of goods, which is the vast majority of cases.  The idea is to keep more nonviolent offenders, many of whom are homeless, drug addicted or mentally ill, out of jail and steer them into treatment programs where they will be less likely to re-offend.   

The content in this article confirms that argument that newspapers mostly cover criminal justice professionals in a favorable fashion.  Nothing in the article mentions the previous actions by the prosecutors specifically or highlights any of the strict actions by the prosecutors during, or after, this reform effort that is discussed.  Simply put, the article highlights the activism and liberal policies by the prosecutors but fails to depict any of the biases in the criminal justice system that prosecutors are responsible for.  The fact remains that prosecutors are responsible for many individuals’ social burdens in society because of their efforts to acquire a conviction – even for non-violent and drug offenders.
 

Less mainstream newspapers are responsible for depicting law enforcers in a positive fashion too.  Local journalists tend to focus on “happy-ending” stories that do not assert critical opinions or facts because of the findings in the aforementioned research, as well as because smaller communities are not open to cynical perspectives or information that makes society appear dysfunctional when compared to larger urban areas.  The following example depicts county jail employees in a positive light because of an inmate program that has been created.  Furthermore, the article presents the community with positive imagery and even presents the amount of money that has been alleged to be saved and number of hours that inmates have performed community service work.  Specifically, part of the article states:

The inmate community service work program at the Logan County Detention Center has proved to be a successful endeavor according to many who rely upon the help.  In 2017, inmates worked a total of 151,008 hours which is over $3 million dollars’ worth of labor, according to jailer Phil Gregory.

The program allows for non-violent offenders who can be sufficiently trusted and monitored to leave confinement and provide free labor to several agencies throughout Logan County including the sheriff and police departments, parks, municipal or county properties or nonprofit agencies.

Inmates who participate in the program don't receive monetary gain, however, they do earn credit time. The detention center or supervising agency provides the transportation back and forth from the work site.

The program also teaches important and useful skills that can be utilized when an inmate is released back into society

"The community service work program is an asset to the community," said jailer Gregory. "Inmates are working hard and it is saving taxpayer dollars."

           Again, this article confirms the argument that newspaper articles mainly depict criminal justice professionals with an auspicious method.  The article presents the success of the program and it benefits to taxpayers.  Yet, the article does not focus on any critical components of the criminal justice system and the residual effects of incarceration regardless of any programming that takes place.  Moreover, the article touches on how the community is fond of the program but fails to present any notions about how community-correctional programming is an incentive to keep inmates incarcerated so that cheap labor is acquired and produced.

            Finally, another example is with articles that depict police departments engaging in community policing tactics with adolescents.  In the following article, a newspaper from Philadelphia discusses how police officers interact with children in an athletic club and the officer who is interviewed depicts himself a mentor for the participants.  The article states:

The Police Athletic League, a nationwide organization with the slogan “Cops helping kids,” opened a PAL center on campus last week with assistance from Penn Police officers.

“It provides a great opportunity for kids to spend time in a positive way,” said Lieutenant Gary Williams, the officer spearheading the center.  “I think it allows kids to see that officers are approachable.”  One of the best aspects of the PAL program, Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush said, is how the PAL center can operate as an after-school program for West Philadelphia youth.

“If the parent or parents are working, that’s the beauty of starting at 3 p.m., so the child doesn’t have to go home to an unoccupied house,” said Rush, who is also vice chair of the Philadelphia PAL board.

At the Tucker PAL Center, located at 4040 Ludlow St., kids can come after school to do homework or play games and sports.

The center kept the name of a school that existed formerly at that location.

In the past, PAL has held events on campus such as “PAL at the Palestra” and “PAL at the Ice Rink.”

The opening of this center will allow Penn Police and Penn students to interact with the greater West Philadelphia community. Penn Police have dedicated an officer to the PAL program for upwards of 20 years.

“We think it’d be a wonderful experience to get our students – whether athletes, Greeks, any individual students or those who were involved in their hometown – to become involved,” Rush said.

What makes this center unique is the relationship between Penn and the city.  A Penn Police officer and a Philadelphia Police officer co-direct the center. It is also convenient for Penn students to volunteer – though they do have to get a quick background check first, as all adult volunteers do.

She described it as a “win-win” situation for Penn students to provide a positive example for the kids who want a better life.

The interaction with the police, Rush said, not only breaks down barriers between kids and cops, but forms personal relationships. “They become their guidance counselor, their friend, their confidant,” she said.  The officers “try to steer kids in the right direction.”

         

This article, again, confirms the argument that newspapers present criminal justice professionals in an optimistic way.  Law enforcers are mostly described as being positive role models and proactive in the community.  Moreover, additional community relationships are depicted with family members of the children and other residents in the area.  Nothing is stated about law enforcers engaging in strict and biased law enforcement in the neighborhoods that many of the children may come from.  Second, nothing is mentioned about the failures of the program or its long-term benefits for reducing crime. 

Conclusion

               Overall, the depictions of criminal justice professionals change with the format of media being used and the creators of the media (Donovan & Klahm, 2015; Dowler, 2003; Drowning, 2010).  The music industry is a creative outlet and research has shown that this type of media usually presents criminal justice practitioners in a negative style.  This has also been understood because music has been known to be a ventilation for personal beliefs that come from situations in society.  The aforementioned ventilation is not only for the musicians, but also for the listeners who share similar disdain about criminal justice policies and legal practitioners who act out the procedures of the criminal justice system (Donovan & Klahm, 2015; Dowler, 2003, Drowning, 2010; Gamson & Wolfsfeld, 1993).  Lyrical content throughout the history of the United States has always had dissenting materials.  Albeit, some music does depict law enforcers with a positive technique; however, and, again, academic research, and the history of music, mostly posits criminal justice practitioners in a critical fashion (Binder, 1993; Pond Cummings, 2010; Kurbin & Nielson, 2014; Steinmetz & Henderson, 2012; Stokes, 1994).

Contrastingly, newspaper articles tend to present law enforcers in a positive manner.  Journalism is typically not an artistic format like music.  Newspaper writers are constrained by standards that are given to them by their organization and with general conditions that fall within the realm of the profession of journalism (Foyster, 2007; Jeffres, Atkin, Lee, & Neuendorf, 2011; Lazaroiu, 2011).  Also, academic research has discovered that newspaper companies limit their critical expressions about law enforcement professionals because of the desire to acquire a general audience, fear of retaliation, and community efficacy concerns.  In sum, many newspaper articles depict law enforcers in a positive fashion because of the above-mentioned reasons (Foyster, 2007; Jeffres, Atkin, Lee, & Neuendorf, 2011; Lazaroiu, 2011).
 

            Lastly, with the research and examples presented in this paper, the argument that music usually depicts law enforcers in a negative way and that newspapers depict criminal justice professionals in a positive way is confirmed.  This can change when major events happen in society; however, the majority of the depictions in the above-mentioned media devices have a tendency to present the depictions in the way that the argument in this paper identifies. 

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