The book addresses an academic audience. Its organization is clear and straightforward but the writing at times is laborious and redundant. However, the book is a contribution to the literature on the media and crime, and will be useful to those who have a special interest in the media or the criminal justice system. The victims do determine what and how the media report about a crime. But it is the nature of the crime, the ease of obtaining information about it, its sensationalism, and its potential to attract large audiences that draw attention to the victims of a crime, not its social impact or implications.
Crime is a commodity, it is used to sell a product and to enhance revenue for the media.
Only in the rarest of instances are victims portrayed as victims. Crime serves as a tool for the reporters of America s corporate media, and society is left with little information concerning the causes, long term effects or the implications of crime on its victims.