Crime News in Modern Britain ― Press Reporting and Responsibility, 1820-2010

Sensationalist newspaper coverage of crime has been a matter of keen public interest. But what role has sensationalist reporting played in creating public understanding of the criminal justice system in England and Wales? This book provides an answer, presenting an engaging account of crime reportage from the late eighteenth century to the present day; from the era of specialist reporters to the days of modern investigative journalism.

Written in a lively and accessible style and locating familiar crime stories from Constance Kent to Sara Payne in their contemporary presentations to newspaper readers, the chapters explore crime news in broadsheet, quality and tabloid publications and explain its importance to how the criminal justice system has been understood. The book identifies why particular crime stories came to public prominence and how these were constructed and presented for popular consumption, offering new ways of thinking about reportage and the criminal justice system.

Judith Rowbotham is a (founding) Director of SOLON, one of the General Editors of the Routledge SOLON series, Explorations in Crime and Criminal Justice History, and a Reader in Historical Criminal Justice Studies at Nottingham Trent University. Her research interests include the presentation or reportage of the legal process, including the criminal justice system, in various media formats (non-fiction, including newspapers and fiction) and issues of gender, violence and cultural comprehensions of the law in action, from the late eighteenth century through to the present.

Kim Stevenson is a (founding) Director of SOLON, one of the General Editors of the Routledge SOLON series, Explorations in Crime and Criminal Justice History, and an Associate Professor in Law at Plymouth University. Her research interests include interests include historical and contemporary aspects of the criminal law with particular emphasis on sexual offences, sexuality and violence, newspaper representations of crime and the criminal justice process.

Samantha Pegg is a Director of SOLON, and Senior Lecturer in Law at Nottingham Trent University. Her research interests include socio-legal constructions of criminality especially murder, media presentations and legal responses to child on child killing, Victorian responses to juvenile crime, Victorian constructs of insanity.