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This does also regularly astound me, but can I just put a caveat in there.
Court/crime reporting is one area which the internet & switch to digital media has had the biggest effect.
Why? https://twitter.com/OxMailEditor/status/1197650371373608961
This does also regularly astound me, but can I just put a caveat in there.
Court/crime reporting is one area which the internet & switch to digital media has had the biggest effect.
Why? https://twitter.com/OxMailEditor/status/1197650371373608961
Back in the day when someone's crimes would appear in the paper, their community would know for one day, and then it would be 'tomorrow's fish and chip wrappers'.
Of course, appearing in print, maybe with a photo, maybe on the front page, was a huge thing if you'd committed a crime, and everyone knew. Or it felt like everyone in your community knew.
And fair enough.
And fair enough.
But that was always a limited exposure - limited mainly to the geographical area of circulation & in time.
Unless you saw it in the paper, you wouldn't know.
If your mate told you 'that fella was a burglar 3 years ago' you'd take their word for it, or visit the library microfiche
Unless you saw it in the paper, you wouldn't know.
If your mate told you 'that fella was a burglar 3 years ago' you'd take their word for it, or visit the library microfiche
Often only a few thousand - 20,000 people ever read that court story, and only once, usually.
Now the internet, and social media is a game changer.
Now the internet, and social media is a game changer.
It is a MUCH bigger deal being reported on for a crime that it ever was before.
Now, a conviction will be shared widely into people's phones in their homes, whether they like it or not, via social media timelines.
Now, a conviction will be shared widely into people's phones in their homes, whether they like it or not, via social media timelines.
With photos too, that social media exposure effectively gives every single court case the capacity to be the equivalent of front page news.
Where the street corner newspaper seller goes door to door with that front page, shouting.
Where the street corner newspaper seller goes door to door with that front page, shouting.
The internet and particularly social media has radically transformed the world of local media.
People are still as intrigued and obsessed with reading about crime in their community as they were in Victorian times.
It was lot easier to ignore though, then.
People are still as intrigued and obsessed with reading about crime in their community as they were in Victorian times.
It was lot easier to ignore though, then.
The internet never forgets too.
Being in court now means your name is on the internet associated with that conviction, potentially forever.
That's a HUGE difference, compared to being in a newspaper one day, and then maybe not ever again.
Being in court now means your name is on the internet associated with that conviction, potentially forever.
That's a HUGE difference, compared to being in a newspaper one day, and then maybe not ever again.
Whereas before, someone's conviction became a dim collective community memory, now it can be, and often is, a never-diminishing, searchable thing.
A man's name can be googled, his past crime found and brought before a group of people in a pub as if it were today, in the time it takes him to walk through a pub door and get served.
A crime will never leave you now, whatever it is.
A crime will never leave you now, whatever it is.
And then there's the geographic factor.
A conviction in Bristol will follow a man or woman if they move to Bradford or even Brisbane.
Some may say that's a good thing. It may well be for certain types of criminals.
A conviction in Bristol will follow a man or woman if they move to Bradford or even Brisbane.
Some may say that's a good thing. It may well be for certain types of criminals.
But for others, say a man who breaches the peace in a row with a neighbour, or a woman prosecuted for finally attacking her abusive partner....?
There's myriad cases perhaps deserve to be forgotten.
Of course, everyone says their own case fits that category.
There's myriad cases perhaps deserve to be forgotten.
Of course, everyone says their own case fits that category.
The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act and the internet have not caught up with each other.
Journalists who are lucky to be young enough not to remember a time before the internet, perhaps don't appreciate how much things have changed.
What's the answer? I dunno.
Journalists who are lucky to be young enough not to remember a time before the internet, perhaps don't appreciate how much things have changed.
What's the answer? I dunno.
Interested to know others' thoughts
@JustaScribbler @Paulwiltshire @OxMailEditor @kirkkorner @ThomasWPenny @CarlEveCrime @EvansTheCrime
@JustaScribbler @Paulwiltshire @OxMailEditor @kirkkorner @ThomasWPenny @CarlEveCrime @EvansTheCrime
