NCJ Number
208204
Journal
Crime & Delinquency Volume: 51 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2005 Pages: 103-132
Date Published
January 2005
Length
30 pages
Annotation
This study compared local news coverage of adult crime with coverage of crime involving juveniles.
Abstract
The news media plays an integral role in shaping the publics’ perception of events. This is particularly true in the case of crime; research has shown that most Americans get information about crime through local media outlets. The current study focused on what the news tells the public about adult crime versus crime involving juveniles as either suspects or victims (termed “KidsCrime”). The sample included 559 broadcasts from 20 television markets throughout the United States; the markets represent every geographic region in the United States and reached a combined total of over 30 million television households. Content analysis of the news stories yielded 7,667 separate stories, 1,739 of which were crime stories that specified the age of the suspect or the victim. The analysis revealed significant differences in the news coverage of adult and KidsCrime. KidsCrime was overrepresented in the news coverage, with the proportion of news coverage on juvenile-involved crime reaching 500 times higher than the proportion of homicide arrests for juveniles or adults in official statistics. Finally, news coverage of crime events was presented in a manner that discouraged critical viewing in terms of public policy considerations. The findings thus indicate that the use of the news media as a primary information source on crime and justice produces a distorted view that can hamper effective policy development. Tables, figures, references