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Final Report on Crime in Media

For this final project, I decided to report on the crime drama Cardinal. It is a detective show based in Northern Ontario, specifically, a fictional town called Algonquin Bay. The show was primarily filmed in Sudbury Ontario and North Bay. The series in based on the books by Giles Blunt, each season surrounding another novel. As of this year, there are four seasons: Season 1- Forty Words for Sorrow Season 2- Blackfly Season Season 3- By the Time You Read This Season 4- Until the Night The show surrounds main character John Cardinal, a former member of the homicide squad as he goes to work as an officer in small town Algonquin Bay, along with his partner, Lise Delorme. For this report, I’ll be focusing on the season 4: Until the Night. This season, Cardinal and Delorme are investigating the abduction and murder of a politician, who is reported missing by his wife, Sheila Gagne. Sheila is distrusting of the detectives, and only trusts one cop who she knows perso...
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Russel Williams: True Crime in the US vs Canada

There are definitely some differences between Canadian media coverage of crime and American media coverage of crime. The documentary "Above Suspicion", was a Canadian film that talked about the crimes of Russell Williams with re-enactments and interviews with victims and their families. It did an overview of Williams' past, his time in the military, and his crime spree afterwards.  Much of the documentary was compiled of interviews with investigators, victims, their families, and even one of Russel's friends. I think the interviews were a good way to present the information because they were from people who had a part in the cases, and they weren't dramatized in a way that would traumatize people, unlike many shows that cover true crime. The language used in telling the story wasn't to make it entertaining, it was to have people understand what happened without being too spooked.  The American documentary "Name, Rank, and Serial Killer?" als...
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Casey Anthony: True Crime and Fame

I think the case of Casey Anthony, because of the media's involvement, had a lasting impact on the US. It was one of the first times the media had such a presence in the trial and made those involved celebrities. I think it was used by the public as a distraction at first and then it escalated and grew into something more influential on society. As for Casey herself, this is a really difficult thing to try and break out of. I don't know if she'll be able to get rid of the "Tot Mom" label completely because it was such a big story, and she had many people threatening her and whatnot. She was named the worst mother in America, that isn't something you just get out of. It didn't help that Nancy Grace was using her platform on HLN to fuel the flame of the public's hatred of her. Casey would probably have to change her name or something drastic to at least have a chance at having a normal life. Even then, if she did kill her daughter, that is something ...
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Colton Harris-Moore: Sociology, True Crime, and Fame

I think that Colton Harris Moore is simply a criminal with an entertaining story. I don't think he's a hero because he didn't actually help people... which is usually what heroes do. From a literature point of view, I would say he's a protagonist that people are intrigued by and might even root for, but he isn't a hero. He is the main character and the story is about him, but to be realistic the large media presence was the reason people thought of him as a hero. There are aspects of the story that Harris-Moore accomplished on his own by using his actions to grab other's attention. Everything he did was rather theatrical: stealing cars, flying planes, and leaving things like notes or chalk-drawn footprints at the scene. He also teased authorities, making them look foolish and him look like a hero. Even if he was an adult it would've been a captivating story, and him being only a teenager would grab even more people's attention. Of course, the media is...
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Stranger Danger: True Crime and Infotainment

1. After watching the Dateline episode on "Stranger Danger", it is evident that the creators have beliefs that are reflected in the content. One example that I noticed was the amount of concern parents have for their kids, not only in general, but when it comes to strangers especially. Statistically speaking, as of 2000, only 0.014% of reported missing kids were abducted by strangers. This episode makes it out to seem way more common that it really is. I also think that the creators were quick to assume that the kids would fall for anything regarding free ice cream or a tv show. Realistically, how would one acquire an ice cream truck, and how often is that tactic used to take advantage of kids? It is probably more likely for a predator to drive up to a singular child (in a normal car) and ask them if they want a ride. Another thing that stuck out to me was despite the parents claiming they had taught their kids well about "stranger danger", their kids still went ...
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Highway of Tears

After watching the 48 Hours episode on the Highway of Tears and the How Stuff Works video on the same topic, I've noticed a few differences. Of course, a documentary is going to have a contrast to a YouTube video, despite being about the same topic. The documentary focuses on a few particular cases, especially the one of Madison Scott. In the How Stuff Works video, it doesn't go into any particular case. However, it does address the astonishing number of Aboriginal women as victims as well as an overview of what qualifies as a Highway of Tears case.  I think because of the lack of focus on the other official Highway of Tears cases, the 48 Hours episode likely wanted to tell more about the vanishing of Madison Scott instead. I think that by doing this they avoided talking about the real issue here which is why there are so many of the Highway of Tears cases still unsolved and unrecorded. I would say about 80 percent of the documentary was about Madison Scott, and though her c...
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Tracking Media Consumption

Tracking Media Consumption 9:30am  - 12pm TV= 10 min Social media= 50 min School= 15 min Music in background= 40 min Total= 2 hrs 12pm- 4pm Social media + TV= 120 min  Total= 1.5 hrs 4pm -10pm Social media alone= 85 min Music in background= 30 min TV/movie + social media= 170 min Total= 4.75 hrs 10pm- 1am TV= 3 hrs Total= 3 hrs Overall (9:30am- 1am) TV alone= 190 min (3.1 hrs) Social media alone= 135 min (2.25 hrs) TV+ social media= 290 min (4.83 hrs) Music in background= 70 min (1.1 hrs) School= 15 min (0.25 hrs) Overall Total= 11.53 hrs Out of the 15.5 hrs I was awake, 11.53 of those were spent consuming media. That's 74% of my day consisting of watching TV, scrolling through social media, and listening to music. I think the other 26% (3 hrs) was spent going into town to Canadian Tire with my dad (to be fair, I was also practicing driving, so that's at least a little productive.) Of course, I will allow myself a b...
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