Analysis of Police Attitudes Toward Newspaper Reporters

• NCJ Number: 90402
• Author(s): E R Ferrell
• Date Published: 1982
• Length: 24 pages
• Sale Source: Eric Document Reproduction Service
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Communication Association, 32nd, Boston, Massachusetts, May 2-5, 1982

Annotation

A study was conducted to determine attitudes of police toward components of the law enforcement process and whether differences in rank, level of police enforcement, years of service to a police force, or familiarity with reporters made a difference in police attitudes toward newspaper reporters.

Abstract

Thirty-one officers completed a two-part questionnaire. Analysis of attitudes toward reporters was completed through the use of chi square statistics based on level of service, years on the force, rank, and familiarity with the reporters. There was a significant difference in attitude toward reporters based on level of service when controlling for newspaper subscriptions and for whether the officer had been interviewed by a reporter during the last year: officers at the state level had more positive attitudes toward reporters than did city and county police and presented evidence that working with reporters, reading newspapers, and knowing a reporter made a significant contribution to their attitudes. A Q-analysis of 54 responses to statements from popular literature about police and reporters divided the subjects into two groups. Type I subjects (most of whom were younger, local officers) viewed the newspaper as giving a distorted view of crime news and law enforcement officers, while Type II subjects (most of whom were older, state officers) recognized the societal value of crime news and thus urged cooperation despite problems in the newspapers' coverage of crime. (HTH) (Resources in Education (ERIC) abstract)