The Mediatization of Policing in the Global South: Crossing the Line Between Policing and the Media

Ajim, Abbigail

This book investigates the image work activities of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) to understand how media has shaped contemporary police practice and decision-making over the past two decades. It marks the first investigation of the police-media nexus using the concept of mediatization and its driving force, media logic in the Global South. Five key developments which have emerged in contemporary policing are examined: the police’s increased use of, and dependence, on media; the changing relationship among the police, media and society; communications technologies which shape policing practice and decision-making; the redeployment of personnel from operational policing to media-related functions, and; increased allocation of police resources to media-related activities. Adopting an institutionalist approach to mediatization, this book uses expert interviews with members of the TTPS, past and present Commissioners of Police, and crime reporters. The book uses longitudinal content analysis of the TTPS’ Facebook page covering a five-year period, as well as presenting public perceptions of the police use of media through survey data.

Details

Published by: Palgrave Macmillan

Publication Date: 2026-10-23

Format: Hardcover

ISBN-13: 9783032290120

DOI:

Dimensions: 210cm x148cm

Pages: