NCJ Number
178239
Date Published
February 2000
Length
0 pages
Annotation
This video analyzes how the news media typically cover crime and crime victimization and suggests what can be done to help victims effectively deal with sometimes insensitive coverage of a traumatizing victimization; it also recommends how victim service providers can work together with members of the media to promote timely, sensitive media coverage.
Abstract
Along with narrative comments, the video provides actual scenes of media activity and coverage at crime scenes and trials. Nationally renowned victim advocates Anne Seymour, Ellen Levin, and Carroll Ellis, along with Colorado State University Journalism Professor Greg Luft and Colorado-Oklahoma Resource Council Co-Director Robin Finegan discuss media crime coverage standards and practices. The video focuses on specific serious crimes that have received massive media attention, including the 1986 murder of Jennifer Levin, the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City and subsequent trial, and the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Col. The analysis of media coverage notes that crime victims are typically targeted by the media because of their accessibility, vulnerability, and inexperience in dealing with aggressive media attention. Also, the media are more interested in obtaining dramatic coverage and meeting deadlines for scheduled and special reports than they are in respecting the privacy and needs of grieving victims. Also, the media's goals of providing fast and dramatic news leads to inaccurate reporting and unsubstantiated innuendo. Suggestions regarding protection of victim privacy and improved media interaction with crime victims include the provision of areas for victims that are protected from media intrusion and the use of victim advocates to train media professionals in sensitive and constructive ways of interacting with and interviewing crime victims.