NCJ Number
95770
Date Published
1984
Length
20 pages
Annotation
The way crimes are treated by the news media reveals a great deal about newsmaking in general and particularly about news accuracy and objectivity.
Abstract
Thus, crime news provides ample opportunity to focus on theoretical issues pushed into the background by the literature's emphasis on occupational and organizational variables and their effects on the manufacture of the news. The empirical evidence yields no clear answers to the questions of whether the media overemphasize crime news, whether crime reporting promotes crime, and whether crime reporting is accurate. A variety of studies have targeted news selection, with emphasis on occupational, craft, and cultural norms which influence story selection. Fishman's study stands apart from the rest, in that it focuses on the phenomenological construction of newsworthy events by recounting the work day of a television assignment editor. It portrays the news media as active participants in the world about which they report rather than the neutral reflectors of external events. In general, the literature presents either a normative or an interpretive view of the world. Footnotes and 49 references are listed.