CRIME REPORTING: SOCIAL MEDIA VS CONVENTIONAL MEDIA, A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF FRAMING ATTRIBUTES

A new and upcoming challenging competitor for conventional media is the rise of social media. With the increasing usage of digital devices, social media is rapidly becoming a primary source of information for all generations, particularly for the dissemination of criminal-related information. However, how these crime reports are framed differs from the traditional media to social media. According to some research, social media tends to be more sensationalizing and emotion-inducing than conventional media, which leads to different consequences, such as misleading information, increased fear of crime, potential biases among people, and the CJS. This study aims to investigate whether such differences in both media outlets, specifically their framing techniques exist, by comparatively analyzing the news posts, contents, tone, emotional language, emphasis on sensationalism, and how the narratives and information are constructed and presented to the public, we can identify the major differences in their framing technique. Through this study, we can also learn more about how the diversity in the framing technique results in various opinions, perceptions, influence, trust, and other societal implications. To attain more insights about the ongoing events within the media because of this competition and to further validate and refine this study. This study aims to understand whether there is a diversity among the media, whether they have their impact on society, and the need for critical media literacy in collecting and publishing crime-related information.