A senior Victorian judge says sensationalist media reports can encourage criminal behaviour, and jail terms should not be determined by tabloid newspapers.

Supreme Court Judge David Harper says judges and magistrates need to resist dishing out harsher penalties for fear of the public and media reaction.

Giving this year's Kerferd Oration in Melbourne, he said some media outlets tried to make money by imposing on the courts a sentencing regime that if adopted would be fundamentally flawed.

He accused some media reports of providing "grossly inaccurate" accounts of sentences, which he said misinform the public.

He said the reports are "censored" to meet the publisher's objective, and devalue the deterrent effects of punishment, undermine confidence in the courts, and are a disservice to democratic governance.

Justice Harper said media outlets turn to outraged victims or members of the public when they want a reaction to a sentence they can portray as lenient, rather than experts.

He said there is conflict between the courts and the media as some parts of the media are demanding judges hand out sentences they are legally bound to reject.

Justice Harper said the judiciary will "fall into line" if the government decides to change sentencing laws, but warned it would be wrong if judges "pandered" to media campaigns.

He also criticised sections of the media for leaving out arguments in support of current sentencing choices by the courts.

The director of Melbourne University's Centre of Journalism, Michael Gawenda, says some sections of the media do distort what judges decide.

"It's a stable of tabloid journalism that the courts are soft on crime, whether that's true or not. That's the tabloids speaking to their audience, I think," he said.

"I do think that there are a lot of people, who do think the courts are too soft on crime. I don't think the tabloids create that environment, but I do think that they reflect it and push it along."

Mr Gawenda says judges need to do a better job of explaining the rules they apply.

"Some sections of the media do distort what judges decide, and how they decide sentences," he said.

"And do run campaigns that I do think are sort of too black and white, so I think that is true.

"But at the same time I think judges need to understand community sentiment is the way it is, they need to address that community sentiment, they need to be more out there explaining what they do and how they do it."

ABC/AAP