4. Media and web sources

This chapter focuses on media and web sources of information about crime and criminology. It first considers the different media sources—newspapers, broadcast media, and fiction—and explains their relevance to the study of criminology. The chapter provides detailed information on identifying and locating relevant source materials in the media, and outlines the different types of online information such as official publications, reports from criminology organizations, and interest groups, as well as blogs and forums. It discusses how to assess the usefulness, relevance, and reliability of materials.