The Relationship Between Police And The Media

Police forces and the media have had an interesting relationship for many years now. Many believe that the media is out to destroy the reputation of officers but at the same time, many also believe that the police are always hiding information and making the law up as they go. It is near impossible to say that either of these ideals are correct, but it is fact that the relationship between the media and the police is very controversial. The purpose of both the Police forces and the media is to serve the public. The purpose of the police is to protect the safety, liberty, and freedom of all individuals; the purpose of the media is to demonstrate freedom of speech and freedom of information. There are many similarities between the two institutions yet they both create tensions between each other. The media feels they are the eyes and ears of the public and that their duty is to tell the public all information which they acquire. The police feel as that the media sometimes alter or decline to give the full story and
The media are taught to rely on recovering information and to extend that information to the public knowledge. The relationship between the police and the media is one of symbiosis; each needs the other to meet their convergent and divergent goals and objectives (Freckelton, 1988). The relationship is also dynamic, complex, and multidimensional (Putnis, 1996).
There lies the biggest difference between the two institutions, one relies on secrecies and the other relies on exposing and presenting the truth. The media policies of law enforcement agencies are usually very strict, specific, and detailed. The problem for the police that the media can create, is that usually the media likes to jump the gun on releasing information to the public as well as using social media sites as potential information