Mass Media and Public Perception on Police in Canada

Mass Media and Public Perception on Police in Canada
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Introduction
Access to mass media is no longer optional today, just like it is to access to information from different sources of information. Unlike in the traditional years of the twentieth century where newspapers, radios, and televisions in a small extent were the primary means of disseminating information, the society in the twenty-first century has witnessed tremendous changes in the manner information is reported and received. Today, the emergence of the internet has changed how information is disseminated and its impact on those that consume this information. A significant impact has been on the law enforcement department tasked is tasked with crime prevention activities. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the impact of mass media on public perception on law enforcement officers. The paper takes into consideration two main sources of disseminating and receiving public information. Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter as well as mainstream media such as newspapers and television networks are the focus of this paper. The paper uses the incident of the Fredericton shooting on the 10th of August that left four people dead, including two police officers.
Fredericton Shooting Case
According to Carabresse (2018), the Fredericton shooting occurred on 10th August, and a suspect was arrested from the scene. Carabresse (2018) explains that according to the police report, police officers heard gun shootings at Fredericton and when they rushed to the scene, they found two bodies of civilians lifeless on the ground. The officers are then said to have engaged the attacker in the shooting, and two officers succumbed to death in response to the attack. The suspect was then arrested later and arraigned in court, but he pleaded not guilty to the offense.
How Mass Media Covered the Incident
The Fredericton shooting was received by outrage from civilians, some claiming that Fredericton had suffered a major setback in matters of security. The Globe and Mail Newspaper is quoted listing some details about the suspects and the murdered officers. A section of the newspaper read “What we Do not know about Fredericton Shooting” (Calabresse, 2018). Another newspaper Global News had the cover story with the same title but was more detailed compared to Global Mail News. According to Vomiero (2018), the two civilians killed in the incident were couples that had been in a relationship for three months. The police did not, however, disclose the motive of the murder. Additionally, police kept the area where the incident had occurred for more than two weeks, and residents were evacuated to other rental apartments.
Mainstream media followed every detail of the incident from the time it occurred until the time when the case was placed before the judge on 24th September. According to Bissett (2018), reporting for the Canadian Press, the judge adjourned the case reporting that he had received a bunch of new evidence from the prosecution. Social media also played a critical role in keeping the public informed and updated about the issue. CBC News shared the information live on Facebook, keeping the people from different back...