NCJ Number
152507
Journal
Crime and Delinquency Volume: 41 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1995) Pages: 3-19
Date Published
1995
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This study explores the relationship between media portrayal of crime and conditions in the political economy.
Abstract
The content analysis focused on types of crime and offender characteristics. Comparisons were made between the articles and official statistics, between years with low and high unemployment, and between the long periods of expansion and stagnation. Consistent with previous research on crime news, the study found that 73 percent of the 144 articles about crime focused on violent crime. The content of the articles was inconsistent with the proportions of violent and nonviolent crimes known to the police. Only 10 percent of the crimes known to the police involve violence. Only 3 percent of references to the employment status of offenders in the crime news articles refer to offenders as unemployed. Given the relationship between unemployment and crime, this is an inversion of the harsh social reality of crime in late capitalist society. These findings suggest that the public's exposure to images of and information about crime in the media fosters a preoccupation with violent crime portrayed as a serious and imminent threat. In responding to public fears and concerns, politicians fashion legislation that reflects this concern. In the process, the true nature of crime and ways to address it are ignored. 7 tables, 8 notes, and 54 references