Study highlights power of (negative/ expedient) publicity
Criminality in Portugal over the past 25 years has actually reduced by 1.3%. But the focus on crime by the media/ social media and political parties has increased by 130% – and thus the heightened public perception of insecurity in this county.
This conclusion has been drawn from a study by the Observatory for Security and Defence (SEDES), in which the front pages of the nation’s five major newspapers were analysed, using Artificial Intelligence, from the year 2000 to 2024.
SEDES study shows there has been “a significant increase not only in the number of references to crime, but in the persistence of cases in the media” – including over social media, where the airing of crime cases/ details of crime regularly spills over into the realm of disinformation.
As SIC Notícias explains, “according to the report, the response of the judicial system can also influence the feeling of insecurity” (ie when suspects in violent crimes are released on bail/ ditto child molesters).
“In the view of SEDES, one of the solutions that could contribute to greater clarity of information is the introduction of victimisation surveys that make it possible to better quantify criminal phenomena alongside annual security reports”, says the media outlet.
SEDES “also proposes more effective communication strategies at the level of the security forces and the judiciary”.
Not mentioned by SIC, are the instances where political parties share ‘fake news’ to further their own agendas. This has been mentioned in the study which refers to “the political exploitation of certain cases”.
SEDES also refers to “non-criminalised deviant behaviour which, despite not constituting a crime, negatively influences the perception of security”.
In addition, the study criticises the inconsistency and lack of comparability of data in the Annual Internal Security Reports (RASI), which makes it difficult to objectively analyse the evolution of crime.
Among solutions proposed are regular victimisation surveys, statistical standardisation in RASI, clearer and more effective institutional communication/ greater coordination between security forces and the judicial system.
Source material: Diário de Notícias via ZAP
