THE ROLE OF CRIME NEWS DISCOURSE IN SHAPING A CONFLICT PARADIGM DURING POLITICAL CRISES

Abstract

By combining theoretical and empirical research on crime news discourse in the Serbian press and online portals, the authors examine media representations of crime, particularly during periods of political crises and social divisions. The analysis focuses on reporting on major tragedies, massacres, accidents, murders, criminal acts and other forms of deviant behaviour, as well as on institutions systematically engaged in their prevention and suppression within the social environment. Sensationalist, tabloid-driven, and unethical journalistic practices, through the media criminalisation of the public sphere, generate moral panic and undermine public confidence in the state’s capacity to protect its citizens. A corporate and commercialised model of communication constructs a narrative framework grounded in clickstream strategies and metrics of social popularity, failing to acknowledge that the expanded presence of crime news discourse, often shaped by careless and tabloidised reporting patterns, produces a destructive narrative framework with significant and potentially explosive security implications. Although statistical data indicate a decline in crime rates in Serbia, the excessive circulation of media images of violence intensifies ideological instability, polarises society and inevitably manifests in the political sphere.