The ongoing schapelle corby case

 

Although the Schapelle Corby case is not a recent event it is still ever present in the media with everycouple of months the media uncovers new discoveries about the case, new scandals about Schapelle (eg; pregnant rumours) and general updates on her condition. The media keeps a very close eye on Schapelle and anything do with her. This crime case at the time in 2004 caused MAJOR coverage by the media; the reasons for this is because she was an Australian was charged with possession (and trying to smuggle) 4.1 kilos of marijuana into Bali, and was sentenced for 20 years. This was seen as so controversial due to her claim that she was not responsible for the possession of drugs and the time she got sentenced for (as in Australia the courts would never have sentenced her to 20 years in prison). Possession of marijuana of that amount would have maybe been sentenced for a few years max, not 20 years in jail. The bail law though (as most people know) is very different to Australia and consider all drug to be of equal seriousness.
The Shapelle case has featured hundred of stories present in the media and the story has not really declined in its popularity. Stories and headlines that have been written up by newspapers include:
-'PM backs clemency for Corby"
-"Has Shapbelle Corby gone mad"
-Corby still has the blues
-Schapelles love for mint slices
-Schapelle rushed to hospital
-Schapelle wants a prison parlour

These headlines expose just how much the media love to write about her, exaggerate her condition, her living condition, her mental state, and the Australian governments reaction to her imprisonment. The media in these headlines are looking for anything to write about Schapelle even if it means dramatizing or glamorising a facet of her life. The media have written up stories announcing numerous possible theories or gossip such as recently she was pregnant after a photograph was taken, she was suicidal, and that they was going crazy.

An outcome of this case being ever present in the media, is that people have become more cautious of travelling (as at time of the case many people were scared that people may smuggle drugs into their luggage, although it is rumoured that this never occurred and no one put drugs in her luggage), and people are now more aware that different countries have very different rules and you need to abide by them.

I am fascinated about the huge media coverage this case still receives, there is always a new story coming out about Corby  and it seems like every week. There is always some new report that states she is unwell, or has a secret love affair or other bizarre accusation. And I'm surprised people are interested in this, but they must be because the media is still writing about her. I think people are still so intrigued and some outraged ,as Australians I think we feel its outrageous for keeping someone in jail for 20 years for getting caught with marijuana. The video at the end of my post is of a talk back radio they discuss their anger that she is still in prison.

This story has huge threshold, and it is continued to be present and is still one of the most written about and talked about story that is featured in the news, newspapers, weekly magazines, talk back radio, and in peoples normal daily life. The story does not look like it is going to die in the next couple of years, and even after her release I am sure the media will still be keeping a close eye of her by writing up about her life after prison. And i bet Corby will also write a book of some sort and be asking big bucks for the story after her release. Who ever gets the first interview with Schapelle after her release will be over the moon. As most people in Australia will be  very interested in reading this interview. 

Below its a link to a variety of stories written that were written over the years about Corby from the Sun Herald
http://schapelle-corby-news.newslib.com/

THE MEDIAS OBSESSION WITH NRL STARS INVOLVED IN CRIME

The criminal behaviour of professional football players especially rugby league stars in Australia has attracted the media and public scrutiny in recent years. Some (not all)  rugby league players have found there way into the media as a result of their criminal incidents, these incidents have included anything from assault, domestic violence, drink driving, public urination, sexual assault, and offensive behaviour. Some footballers in Australia who have gained a great amount of attention from the media for their scandalous behaviour in are:
*Benji Marshal: for assault-bodily harm
*Joel Monaghan: attention from the media, after it was posted on twitter a photograph of him simulating a sex act with a dog
*Brett Stewart: charges on sexual assault
*Antony Watts: charged with domestic assault of his girlfriend
*Nate Myles: defecated on floor of central coast hotel in the nude
*Todd Carney: after drunken night out with roosters team mate Watts, after stating and announcing her would decrease his drinking

These events have caused outrage within the media; talkback radio, newspapers, television programs, twitter and many more media forms have commented on these incidents involving rugby league stars. The media spokespeople have had strong opinions on these incidents; and it is a extremely common story that is present in the media today. The media have characterized and presented these stars as deviant, over confident, sexed up, violent, spoilt footballers. These footballers although I guess are not doing anything different compared to other people that get caught up in criminal behaviour, but media spokepeople and the public argue that they are getting paid two hundred fifty- forty hundred thousand a year they should be behaving better.

In thinking about why these sex and assault scandals carried out by these players have caused such extensive attention from the media, I am reminded and think about Jewkes (2004) twelve news value, five of these imperatives can be applied to NRL scandals. These stories about these NRL stars getting charged with assault, attacking their girlfriends or drink driving all reveal newsworthiness. For starters, their is major threshold as football players and their behaviour is an ongoing issue many years now they have featured in a variety of media, and the media knows that people (whether they admit it ) are going to be interested in it (not matter how much it is). These stories are usually quite simple which it noted in Jewkes 12 imperatives, there not overly complex but short and get to the point. Sex is a major news worthy topic, and more than half of these scandals have sex issues present, generally speaking from the media portrayal of these offenders have given the perception that football star are sex offenders. The celebrity status of the NRL players adds to the hype over their behaviour in the media and the public interest and the violence that is associated with these incidents has been overly emphasised.  

Women: victims OR perpetrators?

In reading Siva Thanabals blog it triggered my own thoughts about the representation of women in the media. The media usually either categorising them as either virgin or vamp (Marsh and Melville). The media also has a tendency to enforce the widely held assumption that women are naturally caring, emotional and maternal. Therefore the media sometimes represent woman offenders as 'victims of circumstance'. In recent years they have helped in the development of strong biological interpretations of female behaviour which have found there way into explanations for female criminality eg. PMS, post natal depression etc. The media sometimes write in a sympathetic manner towards women and women criminals. In my women and gender studies we learnt about violence towards women, although the proportion of violent male offenders is significantly much higher compared to women the study by Stubbs & Tolmle explains that the evidence such as battered woman syndrome tends to pathologise  women's violence, and reinforce traditional white gender expectations that violence is not within women's normal repertoire of behaviour (Mason 1998). So women for example, who have murdered their husbands after years of abuse have been victimised, but there is a difference between recognising this notion of the victim as being the only (primary) subject available to women.

The media has sometimes represented women in as this 'victim' due to peoples assumptions that women are more linked to biology that they are closer to nature as they are the ones that give birth (Marsh and Melville p. 77). I guess women offenders in a way have it tougher then men as they have they not only break the law but also break the norm and expectations associated with supposed 'appropriate' feminine behaviour.

An example of a case that the media wrote about that depicted a woman offender as extremely brutal violent  but suggested her crime was acted out due to mental illness and other circumstances, the media was not excusing her from her offence but giving the viewer sympathetic details that lead her to commit the crime. The story was a famous case, Andrea Yates women from Texas who was convicted to life for drowning her five children in the bathtub, however in 2006 on appeal was found not guilty by reason of insanity. The news papers and media at the time emphasised her insanity and her long history of media health problems. It featured quotes from the father saying she was a normal 'loving' mother' who was just crippled by disease (Roche 2002). This shows that although the women was found guilty (initially) the media still gives suggestions that she may have only committed this crime due to her mental illness, and adds to the fact that some people are still shocked when they hear of brutally violent women, hence the media giving explantions that lead to this unusual behaviour. It could be argued that the media portrays women this way to highlight the public assumption that women are not extremely violent offenders.

The above media content I realise was not current (2011) but I found it difficult to find current cases where the media has presented women offender is a particular way. As the only real large case of a crime committed by a woman in the media at the moment is the Keli Lane case which has already been discussed in Siva Thanabals blog. I did find however find footage of a video that showed a protest outside a Perth court when Kiesha Abrahams mother (who is now her accussed killer along with father) appeared in court. The public have had a very different reaction to what Marsh and Melville talks about in their text that is that people tend to think of women as caring and naturing hence the media sometimes being not as harsh to present the women offender as completely 'evil'. But this video footage showed an angry crowd with no sympathy for Kieshas mother, shouting their opinions of disgust and sadness about the whole situation. A protester Alison Anderson stated outside the local court "what an evil mother f---ing bitch (Howden & Raston 2011).

Aileen Wuornos:  notorious female serial killer. Brutally killed several men, claiming she did due to being raped by them whilst working as a prostitute

Reference 

Howden , S and Ralston N 2011 residents turn fury on accussed child killer. SMH
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/residents-turn-fury-on-accused-child-killer-20110429-1e0te.html
Mason, G entry on violence in Caine, B Australian Feminism: a companion oxford university press

1998 pp. 337-44

Roche, T Andrea yates more to the story march 18th 2002 times magazine online
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,218445,00.htmlMarsh, I & Melville, G 2009  crime justice and the media Chp. 4

MY consumption of crime and media news!

Media news about crime and issues around the world can now be accessed 24/7 through a variety of media forms such as facebook, Internet search engines, television, smart phones, channel websites, the newspaper, magazines, blogs, twitter etc. We now have the ability to receive this information easier and quicker, with the click of a button we can get the latest updates on crime stories any time on the day, wherever we are in the world and can now choose what stories we want to be informed about. It is no wonder then, that with all this expansion of media news and the diverse ways in which we can access this information, that growing public fascination with crime and justice in on the rise.

Marsh and Melville (2009) state that 3/4 of the public form their opinions about crime from what they hear, see or read in the news. My dear mum is forever telling me (after watching an episode that is aired on one of those awful current affairs shows or in the news) about these 'supposed' new cases of dangerous cab drivers, or parks which have had the most sexual assaults happen late at night, she then follows this with a 'please be careful' conveniently just before I head out for the night. This is a clear sign that my Mum is highly influenced by media stories on crime (although i realise these stories do have some accurate facts and genuine truths), it still shows that showcasing these sorts of stories puts the fear of death into my mum and can be very persuasive causing a 'moral panic' over some areas.

In reflecting on my own consumption of crime and media news I would not say that I am some sort of 'crime-alcholic' when it comes to viewing crime in the media but I do enjoy watching a variety of crime shows and news in the media. I watch the news to hear about the daily events, or if an ongoing/ unsolved event in present in the media such as Kiesha Abrahams case or Arthur Freeman case and I do watch some crime shows on television. My selection of crime shows is not that wide as I do not have foxtel (which is extremely unfortunate) but on my free to air TV I am a viewer of criminal minds (sometimes not soley for its context but for the eye candy of one of the male actors with really nice eyes), CSI occasionally, I really enjoyed the first Underbelly series, Crime Investigation Australia with its presenter Steve Liebmann who makes the crime stories more scary with his serious voice, missing persons unit, and RBT because I think its amusing to watch peoples reactions to getting breath tested and the suspense whether or not their over the limit. The crime shows I can not stand and do not really enjoy is law and order, border security, and recruits.

The shows that I often enjoy the most are reenactments of events that are 'based' on real life crime events that have happened in Australia, such as Under Belly (crimes in Melbourne), Golden Mile (based on Kings Cross' cop corruption in period of 1988-1999) and Crime Investigation Australia. These shows particularly appeal to me as they were about actual events that happened (not however fully accurate). Some of these shows caused outrage for the misrepresentation of events and people. Dylan Welch of the Sydney Morning Herald made note of its casual relationship with the truth and Justice James wood of Wood Royal Commission blasted the show for glamorising gangsters, a police detective threatened to seek legal action over her portrayal and questions emerged over involvement  in the scritpitng process of main subject Kings Cross identity John Ibrahim (Mathews). Shows like Underbelly and  CIA are reality based crime shows, these shows entertain by sensationalizing real stories about crime and justice, they employ dramatizations of actual crimes interspersed with police narrative and interviews or actual video footage that features police officers investigating crimes and making arrests (Surette 2007 p. 23).

Surette (2007 p. 26) sums up that an individual today can experience crime and criminal justice through the media and come away with the sensation of actual experience, in my own experience of media I do take into consideration that most crime shows on TV are not reality and I do just watch them for fun. However I do see how people can be manipulated and have a blurred concept of what is real and what is fiction, as some shows like Underbelly can be so entertaining that you get stuck in and can start to believe all the events and facts being presented.

Marsh, I and Melville,G 2009 crime justice and the media Routledge Londona and New York

Mathew, K Reality and TV Crime Australian screen online http://aso.gov.au/titles/collections/reality-and-tv-crime/

Surette, R 2007 Media, crime and criminal justice 3rd ed. Belmont: Thomson Wadsworth Chp. 1 p. 1-30