This contribution discusses the supplementary value of media analyses to understanding the relationship between media and crime. Analyses of media framing and media hypes are discussed on the basis of two cases: the case of New Years Eve in Cologne in 2015 and the “bus incident” of Moroccan Dutch youngsters in Gouda in 2008. The two cases presented here illustrate the significance of media analysis in criminology and its relevance in a media society. Analyses of the media representation and the societal reactions show the influence of media on the image building about crime. Since media are a predominant force of modern society and mediatization is a characteristic of the present tense, media representation has a great impact on the perceptions of crime and punishment, and our reality.

Investigative reporters show an increasing interest in criminal phenomena. Dutch journalists may be allowed access to ongoing police investigations on the condition that they comply with data protection legislation. Working in international cooperative projects, using sophisticated research tools and hot sources, journalists by themselves also manage to uncover hidden crimes that may prompt indictments. The article explores possibilities of future collaboration between criminal investigators and reporters, while acknowledging each other’s professional roles and responsibilities.

With the development of the ‘digital society’ the information about crime on the internet is increasing rapidly. This creates the necessity for clarity about the boundaries of open source research by law enforcement agencies. However a specific article in the Code of Criminal Procedure lacks. While waiting for this article the police, the prosecution office, criminal defense lawyers and judges are struggling to find these boundaries. Nevertheless are they the only ones that can bring this clarity by informing themselves and exploring what should be legitimate.

Police and prosecution can appeal to the public for information to further their case. This requires a balancing exercise between the rights of the suspect (and other people involved), specifically the right to privacy and the interest of criminal investigations. Appeals for information and wanted notices require a medium as well. Also, in order for the appeal to be effective, other (news)media need to publish the appeal as well: it needs to be newsworthy and attractive for the public intended. Based on deskresearch, this article describes how an ever-changing media landscape and different media revolutions affect the appeals for information.

This article reports briefly on research into the relationship between Twitter use by community police officers and citizens’ perceived safety. To this end, multiple relevant determinants of safety perceptions were included in the study: assessment of objective safety, perceptions of quality of life and social capital, risk perception and opinion on the police. The use of Twitter proved to have a modest, yet significant impact: followers on Twitter report a lower assessment of objective safety and a more positive opinion on the police. No direct, significant relation was found between the use of Twitter by the neighbourhood police officer and citizens’ perceived safety.

While media coverage supports citizens in exercising their democratic rights, developments in the media have turned organizations into glass houses. In this article we investigate what media attention and subsequent public reactions after incidents mean for social professionals who work with the so-called ‘hard-to- reach’. We draw on a practical example, literature and interviews. Media attention turns out to affect the public image of organizations and professionals and consecutively alters the long term public judgment. This results in professionals feeling powerless, unrecognized and pressurized. Professionals adopt different strategies to deal with the effects of media attention: resignation, defensiveness, caution and organizational blame.

Criminological literature shows that criminals involved in organized crime benefit from positive images in the media. By opening a hospital or donating funds for the development of a football field they try to present themselves in a cordial way and as good citizens to the public. Using the media to present themselves as animal lovers is a very effective manner to go for public admiration and sympathy. In this contribution is investigated how this mechanism works and why it is so effective.

Three cases of sexual violence with two teenagers and one young woman as dead victims have put – besides the indescribable sufferings of themselves, their families, friends and acquaintances – a heavy burden on Dutch collective memories of the year 2017. Dutch society commiserated on a massive scale: volunteers helped searching, thousands united in silent marches and more than 400 thousand citizens signed an online petition that emotionally called for a firm revision of the ‘failing justice system’. In this article we explore the deeper social, personal and cultural elements that gave media messages their strong emotional impact in Dutch society.