Well and truly crossed to the ‘dark side’: Roger Rogerson’s ultimate fall from grace ... captured on film.

By Sophie Clarke z3460475

Roger Rogerson has once again become the newsworthy flavor of the month. I’m sure many Australian’s thought, “What has he done this time?”, when his ageing face featured in news bulletins, or his name was splashed across news websites. But who exactly is this name on the tips of so many journalists’ tongues? Mr. Rogerson is a former police officer with a tainted past; linked to police corruption, imprisoned over charges of perverting the course of justice, associated with notorious criminals and was acquitted of charges of conspiracy to murder (Mercer, 2014).

Roger Rogerson Source: Sydney Morning Herald

It is alleged that Mr. Rogerson has been up to his old tricks, having been charged for the murder of Student Jaime Gao May 27^th 2014 (Morri and McClellan, 2014). Copious amounts of media reports over the past few days appear to include various aspects of Chibnall’s 1977’s theory of elements required to create a popular crime story. These include, firstly, that the crime be immediate, with details constantly emerging (Chibnall 1977, p.206). Secondly, the crime involves personalisation through the involvement of a public identity and finally, conventionalism, the notion that crime stories appeal to readers through the appearance of recognisable persons that are “common sense” to readers (Chibnall 1977, p.206, 209). But what is most intriguing about the media reports on this case is the representations of police, and the use of images to construct of crime news.

Lee and McGovern 2014 analyze how there has been two distinct era’s in recent NSW police history, the first occurring pre 1980’s; characterized by corruption and limited dealings with the media (p. 24, 25). The second era occurring with the advent of various commissions into the police force during the 1980’s that spurred on a proactive and professional relationship between the police and media (Lee and McGovern 2014, p. 26-7).

The accused, Mr. Rogerson, could be seen as a symbol of the ‘old school’, pre-1980’s police force that is often associated with corruption, ‘dirty’ policing and closed doors to the media. However, in recent media reports he is subtly, (or not so subtly: http://www.theage.com.au/comment/roger-rogerson-myth-can-stand-no-longer-20140527-zrpmw.html ) contrasted with the transparent, post 1980’s proactive police force that protects the community with immediate results and openly provides information to the media and public.

Nevertheless, one does wonder whether the police allowed the media to film the arrest of Mr. Rogerson at his family home, despite alleged prior arrangements that he would present himself to an inner-city police station later that afternoon.  Was it in an effort to, firstly, maintain and improve public confidence that the police are achieving their crime fighting purpose? Which Fleming and McLaughlin argue is a major aim of the police force (pg 200) and Bradford and Jackson suggest fosters a relationship of trust between the public and the police (2010). But secondly, was the filming allowed to send the message to the public that the chapter of police history that Roger Rogerson represents is well and truly finished. And to distance themselves from the corrupt and ‘hit first ask questions later’ mentality of the pre 1980’s police force?    

WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGE CONTENT 

Source: Daily Telegraphy

However, the binary depiction between the old and new police force is not the only noteworthy characteristic of this case.  As news began to break and the story of Jaime Gao’s disappearance and suspected murder began to unfold, the media chose to release photos of an unidentified body wrapped in tarpaulin floating at sea found by a local fisherman. Jewkes 2011 identifies that graphic images, particularly caught by by-standers and witnesses play a significant role in determining a story’s ‘newsworthiness’ (pg. 59,60). But this raises the chilling question, are the public’s senses so numbed and desensitized that a picture of body floating at sea is required to construct crime news that captures our attention? Or are the media pushing the boundary of what is considered acceptable too far - assuming that consumers of crime will be automatically be accepting? I think that it is a combination of both consumers wanting more graphic and engaging stories to whet their appetites, but also a willingness of the media to provide such revenue raising measures.  

 References:

Chibnall, S 1977, Law-and-order News: An Analysis of Crime Reporting in the British Press, Tavistock, London. 

Goodsir, D 2014, ‘Roger Rogerson myth can stand no longer’, The Age, 27 May. Available at http://www.theage.com.au/comment/roger-rogerson-myth-can-stand-no-longer-20140527-zrpmw.html

Jewkes, Y 2011, Media and Crime, 2^nd edn, Sage, London.

Lee, M McGovern A 2014, Policing and Media, Routledge, London.

Mercer, N 2014, ‘Roger Rogerson: A long crooked tale’, Sydney Morning Herald, 1 June. Available at: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/roger-rogerson-a-long-and-crooked-tale-20140531-39atz.html

Morri, M McClellan B 2014, ‘Roger Rogerson charged over Jaime Gao murder; Gao shot twice in the chest, police allege’, The Australian, 27 May. Available at http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/roger-rogerson-charged-over-jamie-gao-murder-gao-shot-twice-in-the-chest-police-allege/story-e6frg6n6-1226932647224