NCJ Number
95677
Journal
Deviant Behavior Volume: 5 Issue: 1-4 Dated: (1984) Pages: 313-326
Date Published
1984
Length
14 pages
Annotation
As part of a large-scale study of juvenile delinquency and public perceptions and attitudes regarding youthful misconduct in India, two English- and one Tamil-language newspapers in Tamil Nadu, India were content analyzed for the extent of their crime-news coverage.
Abstract
The data demonstrate that crime-news coverage resembles the pattern found in countries like the United States. Crime news was a staple, albeit a small portion, of the newspapers' space, closer to the lower percentages in Western newspapers. But unlike Western newspapers, the focus is on the illegal conduct of public officials and public-disorder events, such as riots and demonstrations. Personal-crime coverage tends to receive less attention in Indian newspapers than it does in the United States. To some extent, as in the Western world, the Indian newspapers present a mediated image of crime in that although property crimes are the most frequent offenses recorded in official statistics, they do not receive the most coverage. (Publisher abstract)