There is a view that the press should avoid reporting criminal incidents in order to make society feel less fear, while others believe that showing crime details is important for public awareness and safety. Although some believe that full transparency is necessary, I believe that reporting every detail of crime to society may promote copycat crimes and individuals can feel unsafe even when crime rates are actually low.
There are some reasons why some people argue that full transparency is essential for the public. One of them is that it increases public understanding about crime which is quite important to prevent offences from occurring. When people are aware of local crime threats, they can take precautions, which may help them avoid dangerous situations. Consequently, crime reporting may contribute to public safety. For instance, TV news broadcasts usually keep the public informed about criminal incidents. As a result, people become more conscious about their safety. This shows that full transparency of crimes makes people fully aware of criminal offences.
Despite the reasons described above, in my view, the press should avoid reporting details of crime fully, as the reduction of public fear and anxiety being the first main reason. While transparency seems to raise the level of public safety, this may actually make people feel unsafe even though the number of crimes committed is relatively small. When citizens hear about violent crimes constantly, they will not feel a sense of safety, instead they might experience social panic, anxiety and a climate of fear. For example, television channels repeatedly report murders, terrorism, robberies and assaults, and residents start suspecting every person they see as an offender, which leads to lack of trust. This demonstrates that being aware of offences is not always beneficial to society.
Another major benefit of avoiding crime reporting is that it prevents copycat crimes. If the media shows details of high-profile crimes, inexperienced criminals who lack professional criminal skills try to imitate highly publicized offences. Detailed descriptions can unintentionally provide a blueprint for unlawful behaviour. To give an example, when criminals and citizens are reported unsuccessful kidnapping actions, other criminals try to repeat these actions in order to achieve financial stability from the person that they kidnapped. This illustrates that showing illegal acts may contribute to repeated violent consequences.
In conclusion, while some people claim that reflecting illegal actions to society for public awareness and safety, I would argue that showing these illegal actions would not be beneficial for society with reasons and examples mentioned above.