This document includes Humankind Research’s analysis which is part of the Better Justice Partnership’s research on media narratives.
The Better Justice Partnership
The Better Justice Partnership aims to increase government support for early intervention and diversion by building an alliance to advocate for evidence-based policymaking.
We aim to improve public safety by tackling high re-offending rates and the disproportionate criminalisation of people facing multiple disadvantage and racial inequality.
Research conducted by Humankind Research
To understand the media narratives shaping public opinion on criminal justice, Humankind combined structured content analysis with journalist insights:
- They analysed 51 articles written in the last year across the Daily Mail, the Sun, and the Times.
- Each article was systematically coded using a framework of punitive and progressive themes and they identified where themes where more dominant.
- The interviewed and anonymised a set of senior journalists and commentators to better understand editorial decision-making, constraints, and opportunities for reform-minded voices.
- They synthesised findings into “cracks” in the narrative landscape, highlighting where reframing has the greatest chance of shifting public debate.