From the writer

So, in writing his nonfiction books, Homicide and The Corner, Simon combined a skillful reporter's urge to penetrate hidden worlds—be it the culture of police detectives or heroin addicts—with a novelist's ear for language and flair for spinning a tale. That killer combination applies as well to his fiction in The Wire. Everything is grounded in the raw materials of real-world reporting.

Here the writer explains how everything written in The Wire is based on the writer’s own experience as a reporter. This therefore does not mean that the show is based 100 percent in truth but is written through first hand experience.

Brooker on the Wire

One on One's

One on one's will now be taken out with replies who answered the 5th queation about my specific texts.

Questionnaire Results

Questionnaire sent out to a group of 17/18 year olds, with 22 replies.

1) How often do you watch TV crime dramas?
The majority who responded watch crime drama once a week, if not once a week they watch crime drama 'rarely' or 'occasionally'.

2) For what reason do you watch TV crime dramas?
The popular response to this is that crime drama is 'exiting' or provides a 'thrill'. Other replies give the response that crime dramas provide reassurance, whilst others think they are 'thought provoking' and are interested in the criminal procedures and how the portay this and the relationship between police and criminal in crime drama. Another general theme was how they portray the life of crime or police to be inherently dramatic or exiting, in some cases overly so. Apart from these people watch tv drama 'if there's nothing better on' or 'if other people are watching it' or just merely for boredom.

3) How do TV crime dramas affect your view of the police?
A large proportion of replies said crime drama makes them see the police in a positive light as 'proffesional' or 'smart' or 'exiting'. one even said that crime drama makes them 'respect their efforts'. The negative responses say that they see the police as portrayed 'like scum' or as 'less proffesional' than they are in real life. one reply even said crime dramas show the police as 'scum'.

4) How Similar do you Think Police in TV Crime Dramas are to Police in Real Life?
The majority view is that police in TV crime drama isn't very similar to police in real drama. The main difference people stated to real life police was that Tv policing is 'glorified' or 'sensationalised', ie, less paperwork, less petty crimes etc. A few said that they think police in TV crime drama are 'suprisingly similar' to police in real life, or that just highlight the notion 'to do good'.

Why Media Images of Police Matter

people know the police through television; which is a rich source of policing images. Research has suggested that up to two-thirds of people find out about the police through the media rather than through personal contact... in 2201 west yorkshire police found that although crime had fallen by 5%, according to a survey 36% of people believed crime was rising and 51% claimed to have formed this opinion based on tv

the fact that crime drama is one of the most watched genres on TV with its show repetedly coming in the top 5 watched shows of the year, shows how many people are influenced by media images. peoples perspective of the police through television puts pressure on the police to bring about reform to prove to themselves and the public that these portayals are just extremes:

policing programmes can inform debates about the future of policing, and can influence policy or procedure. For example Reiner ahs shown how the debate concerning whether the role of police should be essentially 'service' or 'force'can be plotted diallectically through police drama series.

Ratings

Prison Break's first season won over 10 million viewers per episode in the US and 2 million in the UK, with its main target audience between 18-49.

The last episode of Life on Mars' ratings peaked at 7.7 million compared with an average audience of 6.3 million for Manchester United' Champions League victory.

The Bill attracts about 5.5 million viewers about 2.5 million less than when it was at its highest point in 2002.

The Wire has always struggled for ratings a reason for this is because (some people believe) the show glorifies killing, corrupt politicians, and drug use and also because it has represented young African-American males in a negative light.

UPDATE
from the BARB ratings figures it is easy to see that Crime drama and more specifically police drama is one of the most popular genres on tv. It attracts millions of viewers and is second to only soaps. In the case of the Bill it attracts the most viewers of any police drama due to its movement towards soap in 2002 under new Executive Producer Paul Marquess who had worked in Corrie. the question posed however is, in terms of the general popularity of police drama, is it due to the exaggerated representation of police in these dramas.

Also from BFI...

A bit on the bill which summarises the main reason why i have chosen to do it instead of lewis amongst the others i have chosen:

The Bill (ITV, 1985-) began as a grittily realistic one-hour drama, but the series has shown an unusual flexibility, switching formats and even taking on the characteristics of a soap. The survival of The Bill illustrates the police drama's durability in a changing television environment. The Bill is also rare in the genre in consistently casting women and Black or Asian actors in major roles.

in the BFI's earlier interpretation it highlighted the fact that TV drama was dominated by white males, the bill is an exception, the similar example to this from my American Dramas is the Wire which is set in the town of Baltimore which has a majority Black population and the show consists of a lot of Black and female characters in the higher echelons of the Police Force as well as the Governernment.