"Va in onda il delitto". Criminologia mediatica e scientifica nei dibattiti televisivi

What kind of information about criminology is conveyed to the public in television In mass media, two kinds of criminological knowledge usually overlap: criminological scientific knowledge and popular or "folk" criminology, the former interpreted in the media package by experts in criminology, and the latter by non-specialist social personalities. The main objective of the present paper is to examine the content of some TV programs dedicated to real crime, in order to assess the scientific level of the experts' and the lay participants' statements through a qualitative content analysis. The results reveal that the scientific level and the expert profile (expert in criminology or other disciplines belonging to the field of forensic sciences) do not always coincide; on the contrary, scientifically grounded arguments are frequently used by social personalities lacking a specific criminological competence.