Police Profiling Theory essays

Police Profiling Theory essays In theory there is a rational difference between police profiling' and racial discrimination'. However, in actuality this distinction is open to suspicion of racial and other biases towards minorities and marginalized communities and cultures. The profiler is often seen as a discriminator who tags' and targets certain groups or ethnic and racial groupings with pre- determined ideas about their qualities and attributes. It is the significance of the creation of pre-determined views that creates the There is no doubt that the essential basis of all prejudice is pre- determined thought and actions. By having pre-determined ideas about a class or group of people one is automatically and by definition prejudiced towards that group or racial class. This is the basis of the negative response that has emerged in recent years to the practice of police profiling. Profiling is seen in practice as another form of discrimination, marginalization and prejudice. On the other hand, the authorities claim that profiling is not intended to be prejudicial but is rather a practical and important part of police work and an attempt to reduce crime. It is in essence a tool that allows the police to isolate criminals in a rapid and effective way. The practice of police profiling has a contentious and criticism-filled history that persists to the present day. Profiling, as part of the history of racial and minority discrimination, has a long history in America. Many scholars point out that in fact profiling, as a form prejudice and discrimination, started long before the present debate on police profiling. The interactive relationship between race, space, and policing has been of social and political significance since the earliest days of American history. Monitoring the mov...

Types of Feature Stories for Journalists

Types of Feature Stories for Journalists Just as there are different kinds of hard-news stories  in journalism, there are several types of feature stories. Often described as soft news, a feature story doesnt deliver the news directly, as a hard-news story does. A feature story, while containing elements of news, aims to humanize, add color, educate, entertain, and illuminate, says Media-Studies.ca. These stories often build on news that was reported in a previous news cycle. Examples of feature stories include news features, profiles, spot features, trend stories, and live-ins. Feature stories can be found in the main news section of a newspaper, especially if they profile a person or group currently in the news. But they are also likely to be found in sections farther back in the paper- in lifestyles, entertainment, sports, or business sections. They also can be found in other news formats, such as radio, television, and the Internet. News Feature The news feature is just what the name implies: a feature article that focuses on a topic in the news. News features are often published in the main news, or A section, or the local news, or B section, of a paper. These stories focus on hard-news topics but arent deadline stories. They bring a softer writing style to hard news. These articles often are people stories, focusing on individuals behind the news, and they often seek to humanize a set of statistics. A news feature could claim, for example, that a community is experiencing a methamphetamine epidemic. It would begin by citing facts such as  arrest statistics  from local, state, or federal authorities or treatment numbers from area hospitals and drug counselors. Then it might include quotes and information from people involved in different aspects of the story, such as police, emergency room doctors, drug counselors, and meth addicts. This kind of feature story focuses not on a single crime, drug-induced death, or meth-related arrest; instead, it briefly tells the story of one or more of the above-mentioned characters, such as recovering meth addicts. The news feature seeks to put a human face on a crime statistic to bring the story to life for readers and inform them of potential problems with the issue. Profile A profile is an article about an individual, such as a politician, celebrity, athlete, or CEO. Profiles seek to give readers behind-the-scenes looks at what a person is like, warts and all, behind the public persona. Profile articles provide background about the individual: education, life experiences, and challenges faced in getting where he or she is now, as well as basic information such as age, marital status, and family details, including the number of siblings and children. A profile can appear in any section of the paper, from the A section to the business section. For example, in 2016, The Orange County Register ran a feature story on Carl Karcher, the late founder of Carls Jr. The story, written by reporter Nancy Luna, described how Karcher started the fast-food restaurant, which specializes in hamburgers, on July 17, 1941, by selling 10-cent hot dogs, tamales, and chili dogs out of a cart on a street corner in Los Angeles, California. He financed a $326 food cart by mortgaging his Plymouth Super Deluxe for $311, Luna wrote. He paid the rest in cash. The remainder of the article told how Karcher rose from being a poor Ohio farm boy with an eighth-grade education to the owner of one of the most successful fast-food chains in the country. Karcher had passed away in 2008, so Luna interviewed a restaurant official to obtain background information. Spot Feature Spot features are feature stories produced on deadline that focus on a breaking news event. They are often used as sidebars to the mainbar, the deadline news story about an event. Suppose a tornado hits a community. The mainbar would focus on the five Ws and H of the story- the who, what, when, where, why, and how- including the number of casualties, the extent of damage, and rescue efforts. Complementing the mainbar, the paper might publish one or more spot features focusing on various aspects of the event. One story might describe the scene at an emergency shelter where displaced residents were housed. Another might reflect on past tornadoes that have devastated the community. Yet another might examine weather conditions that led to the storm. The paper could publish dozens of spot features depending on the severity of the event. While the main news story would be written in a hard-news style, the spot features would convey a softer feature style, focusing on the human toll of the tragedy. Trend The trend story would likely appear in the lifestyle, fashion, cooking, high-tech, or entertainment section. These stories explore trends such as a new look in womens fall fashions, a website or tech gadget that everyones going nuts over, an indie band attracting a cult following, or a show on an obscure cable channel thats suddenly hot. Trend stories take the pulse of the culture at the moment, looking at whats new, fresh, and exciting in art, fashion, film, music, high technology, cooking, and other areas. Trend stories are usually light, quick, easy-to-read pieces that capture the spirit of whatever trend is being discussed. Live-In The live-in is an in-depth, often magazine-length article that paints a picture of a particular place and the people who work or live there. Live-in stories might appear in the lifestyle section of the paper or in a magazine that the paper publishes occasionally, such as once a week or once a month. Live-ins have been written about homeless shelters, emergency rooms, battlefield encampments, cancer hospices, public schools, and police precincts. Live-in pieces are often a day-in-the-life or week-in-the-life stories that give readers a look at a place they probably wouldnt normally encounter. Reporters doing live-ins must spend a lot of time in the places theyre writing about, hence the name live-in. Thats how they get a sense of the places rhythm and atmosphere. Reporters have spent days, weeks, even months doing live-ins (some have been turned into books). The live-in in some ways is the ultimate feature story: an example of the reporter- and, then, the reader- becoming immersed in the topic. Though they might have different names, depending on the medium, these types of stories are just as likely to appear on a TV screen, radio station, or Internet website, serving readers, listeners, and viewers in much the same way as they do newspaper readers: by adding depth, humanity, color, and entertainment to the news of the day.

Group Thinking Action Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 3

Group Thinking Action - Essay Example I have a friend who is an American, born and raised there. I remember after the planes crashed on 9/11 then the new word to figure out for word was, â€Å"Muslim† and â€Å"terrorist.† In America and in most parts of the world the word terrorist is negative and doesn’t mean that the person is part of a particular country’s armed services. I remember a few months ago when I was talking to my friend who believes in the Koran and thus in America and around the world labeled as a â€Å"Muslim†. We were writing back and forth about the Islamic faith and he replied in one mail not to send the mail to every one of my lists. He did not the government to be reading his mail. Now, why would my friend be terrified by the fact that he is American who happens to believe in the Islam faith? â€Å"Group Think† comes into play here. This type of thinking is dangerous and can only lead people and societies down dangerous paths. If all of Americans come to believe that Islam is some crazy cult and creates â€Å"terrorists† then my friends could become a threat in thinking and in the minds of many Americans. This thinking creates negative stereotypes of outsiders. These stereotypes may be totally false. This type of think places me versus you which can create divisions and ignorance in a particular society. If you add anger and vengeance as feelings that are attached to a type of thinking, then this becomes very dangerous.   This may sound silly to you but â€Å"Group Think† gets at the idea of delusions and illusions. If someone is severely delusional and illusional than psychologists might be called in to start treatment.