NCJ Number
227339
Journal
Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice Volume: 7 Issue: 2 Dated: April 2009 Pages: 136-155
Date Published
2009
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This article examined how the print news media report on the problem of school crime and violence.
Abstract
Results found that despite national crime statistics showing that schools are generally safe places for children, violence at school receives a substantial amount of media attention. The surge of articles following infamous cases of school violence is also noteworthy. The peaks and valleys in newspaper coverage of school violence from 1990 to 2006 closely mirror Gallup poll data on public fear of school crime over that period. The increases in reporting alone, despite the fact that the news coverage is disproportionate to the actual threat faced, does not necessarily indicate a bias in news coverage, because such a conclusion involves reference to a moral judgment about what the proper number of news stories should be. In terms of content of news articles, the results found that the print news media describe school crime in a way that confirms public fears; the studied articles framed school crime as bad or getting worse, persistently reminding readers about the potential for tragedy at school, reporting emotional responses rather than more objective sources of information, and describing school violence as being unpredictable while suggesting that schools should be blamed for failing to recognize warning signs. Data were collected from The New York Times and USA Today over a 17-year period, from 1990 through 1996. Figures, table, notes, and references