Why are newspapers and television programmes filled with storiesabout crime and criminals? Is their portrayal of crime accurate?How do the media transform our attitudes to crime? Is fear ofcrime, for example, really created by the media? The relationships between crime and the media have long been thesubject of intense debate. From the earliest days of the printingpress to the explosion of cyberspace chat rooms, there have beenpersistent concerns about the harmful criminogenic effects of themedia. At the same time, the media are fascinated with crime? on the news, in films and on television there are countlessstories about crime, both real and imagined. In this innovative and accessible new book, Eamonn Carrabinecarefully untangles these debates, and grapples with the powerfuldynamics of fear and desire that underlie our obsession with crime.Chapter-by-chapter the book introduces the different ways in whichrelationships between crime and the media have been understood,including classic debates about the media?s effects, newsproduction, and moral panics, as well as more cutting-edge studiesof the representation of crime in the contemporary media. Combining empirical research findings with the latesttheoretical developments, the book will appeal to advancedundergraduates and graduate students across the social sciences,especially those taking courses in criminology and mediastudies.