Measuring the knowledge and awareness of media workers on forensic sciences

Crime-related topics are highly newsworthy and the media shapes society's perception of crime and criminals through the news. Journalists are responsible for gathering and verifying the information, and making it understandable to the society. However, there are many conceptual mistakes in reporting crime on news. It is essential for a journalist to have at least a minimum level of knowledge in the field of "forensic sciences", which encompasses many disciplines used in reaching and analyzing crimes and criminals. In our study, a survey was conducted with 167 media workers from different age groups working in different units in various local and national media organizations in Turkey. The aim of our study is to measure the knowledge and awareness of media professionals regarding forensic sciences. The survey included 30 questions related to various areas of forensic science. The answers of the participants are analyzed and explained with the help of tables and graphs, and the distribution of responses based on the socio-demographic and professional characteristics of media workers was evaluated. As a result of our study, it was observed that media workers had a low level of knowledge about forensic sciences. It was observed that participants who have worked in the media for 10 years or more have higher levels of knowledge about forensic sciences than other groups. It was also found that crime reporters have higher levels of knowledge about forensic sciences than other journalists working in other fields. This situation was thought to derive from lack of education among media employees working related to forensic sciences. We believe that media employees receiving education in forensic sciences and enhancing educational programs in the field of forensic science, will more accurate reporting of news containing forensic science which is necessary for society's access accurate news. Keywords: Media, Press, News, Journalism, Forensic Sciences