NBC's crime drama Crossing Jordan has many similarities with scholarly journals. They both show the lack of attention given to the victims of crimes. The message delivered by the writer of Crossing Jordan can leave the viewer believing the victims are of little importance. This can be detrimental for the fight for victim's rights. The media is a powerful factor in affecting the way people view crime and the resulting victims.
II. Scholarly Literature Review of Victims in the Media, and Media Images.
Drama television shows are not the only place victims and victimization are evident. Television news is continually reporting on violent crimes and the people victimized from them. The news is probably the number one source of information about crime and their victims. Today, with the enormous size of cable television, the amount of coverage devoted to news has increased. Now many more stories are shown. As the technology increases, more and more crime can be shown. Today, crime can often be caught on security tapes or even by a witness as in the Rodney King case. Over the last 20 years changes in what is accepted on television has brought crimes "such as incest, rape, or child abuse" (Kennedy and Sacco, page 27, 1998) in to view. These crimes were almost never spoken about and defiantly not seen on television. .
When the criminal is also a celebrity the trial will gain even more attention. This was the case in 1992 when Mike Tyson was convicted of raping the contestant of the Miss Black America Pageant. The victim had to suffer even after the crime. Over the next several months the case was written about in nearly every newspaper in the country. .
Leslie Kennedy and Vincent Sacco also discuss the lack of detail the news will give about the demographic characteristics of the victims. In only fifteen percent of the cases analyzed the race could be identified and marital status was identified in even less cases.
