The public portrayal of rape sentencing: What the public learns of rape sentencing from newspapers

Hough's(1) recent investigations into public attitudes to sentencing in Britain have shown respondents as being highly critical of sentencers as well as being misinformed about sentencing practice. This study explores one possible source of the misunderstanding The media may be crucial. Considering the press coverage of the sentencing of rape cases, the results show how media coverage is dynamic and patterns change. Up to the 1970s the media coverage of rape sentences broadly matched the reality of the courtroom. Since the 1980s, however, a distortion becomes evident in terms of a disproportionate emphasis by national newspapers on severe sentences. The dangers of relying on the media to educate the public are manifest.