Loughborough University
Browse
Police_&_Media-_PolicingSociety_rev[1].pdf (145.95 kB)

Police and media relations in an era of Freedom of Information

Download (145.95 kB)
journal contribution
posted on 2010-08-16, 08:25 authored by Louise Cooke, R. Paul Sturges
Changes to how police forces in England and Wales are working to manage their public image in an environment of heightened accountability and transparency are explored. The locus of control of information shaping the portrayal of the police in the news media is discussed, as is the impact of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The findings from case studies of two police forces in the East Midlands are reported. The case studies indicate that, whilst police and media co-operation is not a new phenomenon, UK police forces are becoming increasingly proactive, strategic and professionalized in their use of the news media. For their part, the media are dependent on the news ‘fed’ to them on a regular basis by police press relations units. Nevertheless, thanks in particular to their use of the FOIA 2000, the media continue to play a role as independent watchdog and reporter of police activity.

History

School

  • Science

Department

  • Information Science

Citation

COOKE, L. and STURGES, P., 2009. Police and media relations in an era of Freedom of Information. Policing and Society, 19 (4), pp. 406-424.

Publisher

Routledge (© Taylor & Francis)

Version

  • AM (Accepted Manuscript)

Publication date

2009

Notes

This is an electronic version of an article published in the journal, Police and Society: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t713646669

ISSN

1043-9463;1477-2728

Language

  • en

Usage metrics

    Loughborough Publications

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC