1.10. Media Coverage of Crimes

Media is not a terrible thing that is conspiring to ruin our minds. Please know it is very beneficial and can help share information, but we need to be aware of the downfalls of media and even which media we choose to watch. Do not want to say “I am over the news” because it serves an important purpose! Also, keep in mind that crime is going DOWN and has been consistently doing so. However, research has shown that entertainment and news media create an image that we are living in a dangerous world. ^[2] It can be easy to become fearful after watching too much news if we let ourselves fall trap of losing the facts. “Factfulness recognizes when we get negative news, and remembering that information about bad events is much more likely to reach us. When things are getting better, we often do not hear about them, which can lead to a systematically too-negative impression of the world around us, which is very stressful.” ^[3]

Public knowledge of crime and justice is derived largely from the media. Research has examined the impact of media consumption on fear of crime, punitive attitudes, and perceived police effectiveness. Studies have found that the more crime-related media an individual consumes, the more fearful of crime they are. ^{[4] [5]} However, we also are attracted to specific types of crime and victims when we choose to consume media. In other words, the media is aware of our crime preferences and will report on those more. Glassner (2009) describes what he calls the ‘ideal crime story’ for journalists to report. He notes that society likes to read about innocent victims and likable people, and the perpetrator needs to be scared and uncaring about the crime. ^[6]

Our society is fascinated with crime and justice, where we spend hours watching films, reading books, newspapers, magazines, and television broadcasts that keep us constantly engaged in crime “talk.” Perhaps what we do not always realize is the mass media plays an important role in the construction of criminals, criminality, and the criminal justice system. Our understanding and perceptions of victims, criminals, deviants, and police are largely determined by their portrayal in the mass media. ^[7]

The majority of public knowledge about crime and justice is derived from the media. ^{[8] [9] [10]} Since Gallup polls began asking whether crime had increased in 1989, most Americans have usually said there is more crime than there was the year before. There is only one year where people did not think it did, which followed 9/11. ^[11]

Despite decreases in U.S. violent and property crime rates since 2008, most voters say crime has gotten worse during that span. Mostly, Americans’ perceptions of crime are often at odds with the data. ^[12] Research has also shown that there are stark differences across party lines. Specifically, almost eight in ten voters who supported President Donald Trump (78%) said this, as did 37% of backers of Democrat Hillary Clinton. Just 5% of pro-Trump voters and a quarter of Clinton supporters said crime has gotten better since 2008, according to a survey of 3,788 adults. ^[13] All of this is at odds with official data reports that will be discussed in more detail in the next chapter. Since this is the case, how do people have this misperception about crime and criminality? Where do these myths develop?

The media plays an important role in the perception of crime and the American public’s understanding of how the criminal justice system operates and policies Americans are willing to support for reform. Public opinion is connected with pressure to change crime policies. ^[14], especially when there is a high fear of a certain crime ^[15] The media can provide the public with an estimation of how much crime there is, the types of crime that are common, trends in crime rates, and the daily operations of the criminal justice system. However, the media often does not portray an accurate portrayal of crime and criminal justice. ^[16]

Research by the Pew Research Center found that most Americans get their news from social media, despite having concerns about the accuracy and reliability of those sources. Almost 66 percent of Americans get news on social media. The majority (57%) say they expect the news they see on social media to be mostly inaccurate. ^[18] It appears that convenience outweighs concerns with accuracy.

The media focus their attention on crimes that will capture viewers’ attention. The more shocking, upsetting, gruesome, and dramatic the case the better! In the above case of Katrina Vetrano, it is shocking that a 30-year-old woman goes out for a jog and winds up raped and murdered. It is even more shocking than it was in the day and then added to it by a stranger. People will click on this case because it preys upon fears, but this causes problems. How do we devise policies that protect people if we get driven by fear? Women are more likely to be victimized by people they know, not strangers. However, the media makes it seem like it is strangers that are most likely to victimize women. Is this problematic? Yellow journalism is the practice of using sensational stories in print media to attract readers and increase profit, and it works, but not without problems.^[19]

While the media plays an important role in creating fear of crime and myths, they are not the only ones that do so. In subsequent chapters, we will talk about the government, politicians, and power elites. ^[20] In the next section, we will discuss the wedding cake model in an attempt to understand how what we most commonly see in the news media can distort our understanding of crime frequency and types of crimes. The media may report on the stuff that will appear to be interesting, ‘If it bleeds, it leads,’ even if that is a less common crime. Homicides account for more than a quarter of the crime stories on the evening news, but they represent less than 1 percent of all crimes. ^[21] To get people to read or listen to the story, they have to capture our attention. How many people want to read about another marijuana arrest? Not many probably! Most of us want to hear about the gruesome crimes that keep us up at night; despite them being rare. By covering these crimes in-depth, we create fear and distorted reality of crime, criminals, and criminal justice.