Larissa Lance

College Writing II Essay III

Ms. Brenneman
May 6, 2015

Crime and the Media: Is the World a

Violent Place?
In the real world, the more serious a crime is, the less frequently
it happens However, if you were to take any newspaper and count
the crimes they report, youll find the exact opposite (Warr, 2008).
Due to the portrayal of crime through media outlets such as news
broadcasts, crime shows on television, and movies based on crime,
American society is led to believe that we live in a violent world full of
bad people. In this so-called violent world, the bad guys are
portrayed as young, minority males, skewing the perception as anyone
who meets this criterion. Women are underrepresented with media
wanting society to believe that women are almost incapable of
committing crime. The cops are either the heroes or the villains, with
no in-between, giving people two extreme perceptions of the police
role in the criminal justice system. The way the media approaches
crime, just like any other topic, greatly influences how society see
themselves and the world around them. Although there is and always
will be crime, crime rates are dropping, contradicting what the media

Larissa Lance
College Writing II Essay III
Ms. Brenneman
May 6, 2015
leads us to believe. The media is to blame for this misconception and
society needs to be better educated to see these flaws in the system.
One issue the media brings is the representation of how often
violent crime is actually committed. In a national study, 81% of
respondents stated that they base their view of crime rates on what
they read and/or saw in the news. When the American Bar Association
asked people to identify important sources of information on the
criminal justice system, 41% of people relied on television news
broadcasts (Beale, 2006). Studies have shown that people who watch
a lot of television are more likely to feel a great threat from crime,
believe in higher rates of crime, and take more precautions to protect
themselves because crime on television is more dangerous, violent,
and random than it is in real life (Gerbner, 1980). Research has also
shown that media influence is strongest on females, Caucasians, and
the elderly who all just so happen to be the least likely to be victimized
(Liska). Crime show viewers are also more likely to worry about sexual
assault, getting shot, and getting killed (Haghighi, 1996). Property
crimes outnumber violent crimes eight to one, with larceny-theft being
the most committed crime in 2010 (FBI, 2011). Mark Warr says, In
media coverage of crime, a key element of newsworthiness is
seriousness. The more serious a crime is, the more likely it will be
reported. But, in using seriousness as a news criterion, the media are

Larissa Lance
College Writing II Essay III
Ms. Brenneman
May 6, 2015
more likely to over-report crimes that are least likely to occur, which
presents an upside down view of the world.
There are various methods the media uses to portray their
stories, starting with the method of agenda setting. Agenda setting is
defined as increasing broadcasts of a particular story to lead people
into believing that those stories warrant more political attention, such
as the Trayvon Martin case. Using this method combined with the
cognitive accessibility theory, people subconsciously use shortcuts to
make judgments, such as relying on recently acquired information and
commonly accepted theories. In other words, if a lot of people believe
a certain theory, and this same theory is constantly being portrayed
through the various media outlets you rely on, you will start to believe
the same thing as everyone else. People who are given constant
reminders of high-profile cases, such as the Trayvon Martin case,
expressed low levels of confidence in the criminal justice system as a
whole as well as in individuals of the system, such as the police.
Another method used is that of framing. Framing simply puts more
emphasis on certain aspects of a criminal case in order to promote
certain thought processes; episodic framing focuses on certain events
and/or individuals while thematic framing addresses a more broad
issue, may it be social, economic, and/or political. The last method
used is that of racial typification, the medias portrayal of crime as a

Larissa Lance
College Writing II Essay III
Ms. Brenneman
May 6, 2015
minority phenomenon. Minorities are portrayed as being more violent
and some researchers even argue that this method is what triggers
racism (Beale, 2006).
Race and ethnic representation is just one more major issue the
media brings to light. They would like you to believe that anyone who
is not Caucasian is more capable and more likely to commit crimes.
According to a study done in Chicago by Robert M. Entman, in crime
stories where African Americans were portrayed as the perpetrators,
77% of those stories were violence and/or drug related; only 42% of
crime stories portraying Caucasians, as the perpetrators were violent
and/or drug related. Findings from the same study also showed that
72% of Caucasian suspects were mentioned by name compared to only
28% of African American suspects. In a separate study done by
Theodore Chiricos and Sarah Eschholz in Orlando, they found that
African Americans were two and a half times more likely to be
presented as suspects than Caucasians; Hispanics were five and a half
times more likely to be portrayed as suspects than Caucasians. African
Americans and Hispanics were also four times more likely to be
portrayed as suspects rather than victims. Chiricos and Escholz also
found that Caucasians were more likely to be shown as role models in
place of being accused of crime (Bjornstrom, 2010). Another study in
Chicago showed an overrepresentation of Caucasian victims; in news

Larissa Lance
College Writing II Essay III
Ms. Brenneman
May 6, 2015
broadcasts of crime stories, 185 seconds were devoted to stories with
Caucasian victims compared to 106 seconds for stories with African
American victims. When no suspect was shown in a news story, 60%
of viewers claimed to have seen a suspect shown and 70% of those
same viewers recalled an African American suspect (Beale, 2006).
In 2012, almost 70% of individuals arrested were Caucasian, and
only 28% were African American; Caucasian individuals were arrested
for more violent crimes than any other race, making up almost 59% of
those arrests (FBI, Table 43). So what is going on with the mindset that
minorities contribute to the majority of crimes committed? There have
been various explanations for this overrepresentation of minorities as
perpetrators of crime, one being the power structure explanation.
This theory states that because the majority of print and television
media is owned by Caucasians, there is an overrepresentation of
minorities due to these people finding these stories more
newsworthy. Another perspective is that of market share. This
perspective stresses the intensity of the competition between media
outlets to focus on what will draw in viewers and/or readers. The
concept of a normal crime is another theory to the
overrepresentation; when a story does not fit normal circumstances,
it is deemed news worthy and is the featured story. The last and final
theory is that of racial threat. In this theory, dominant groups, such as

Larissa Lance
College Writing II Essay III
Ms. Brenneman
May 6, 2015
Caucasians, see large minority populations, such as African Americans,
as a threat; therefore, the dominant group must do what they can to
give the minority groups a bad reputation (Bjornstrom, 2010).
Almost similar to the overrepresentation of minorities in crime is
the underrepresentation of women. Women are seen as being delicate,
weak, and even incapable of committing crimes, and while for the most
part, statistics agree, women contribute to more criminal acts than
media would like society to believe. In 2003, males were arrested for
6,904,010 criminal offenses, compared to females being arrested for
2,080,990 criminal offenses. In 2012, the male number went down to
6,028,378 while the female number went up to 2,140,934 (FBI, Table
33). While the male number is still higher than the female number,
male rates dropped while female rates went up. Tying in with race,
women of color are three times more likely to be incarcerated than
Caucasian women. Not only are women themselves underrepresented,
but the crimes they commit, such as prostitution, are underrepresented
as well (Steffensmeier, 2002). The media fails to report crimes
committed by women as often as they report crimes committed by
minorities because society has been trained to see that anyone
different from us is evil and women can only be innocent.
Yet another false representation from the media is that of police.
In television crime shows, the case is solved in a short period of time

Larissa Lance
College Writing II Essay III
Ms. Brenneman
May 6, 2015
and the suspects to the crime are successfully apprehended with no
problems in the process. This gives society the idea that crimes are
easy to solve, creating panic and frustration when the process takes a
longer amount of time. Even a criminal case solved in a rather short
period of time is not seen as being sufficient enough compared to the
standards set by the media industry. News outlets also exaggerate the
number of criminal offenses that result in an arrest, giving viewers the
impression that the police are more effective than they actually are.
While this is a negative influence in terms of a false perception, it is
positive in terms of giving the police a more positive image and
making people feel more at ease with crime control. The media and
the police share a relationship that can benefit them both; the media
need the police to provide them with the facts of a criminal case
whereas the police need the media to provide them with a good public
image. However, people who live in high crime areas tend to give the
police negative evaluations, showing that direct experience with crime
strongly influences the perception of police effectiveness, rather than
indirect experience through media reports; yet, the media is held
responsible for producing these feelings and perceptions of certain
areas being more prone to crime than others (Dowler, 2003).
Fear of crime is yet another reaction the media is deemed
responsible for. Large amounts of local crime news coverage are to

Larissa Lance
College Writing II Essay III
Ms. Brenneman
May 6, 2015
blame for increased fear among larger populations whereas the
broadcasting of non-local crime has the opposite effect, making people
feel safe with the thought of that could never happen here.
Research found that consuming more television violence actually leads
to more fear of crime rather than aggression, contrary to popular belief
(Dowler, 2003).
Although it may be perfectly clear to most that the media has a
strong influence on what people believe about crime, not everyone
thinks this way. One argument against this strong influence is that
people will believe what they want to believe. Some say that the
media has little influence due to selective exposure; by choosing what
media to read and/or watch, an individual is making the choice of that
they want to believe in (Beale, 2006). We, as humans, tend to lean
towards people who are similar to us and media is no exception; if we
believe a certain idea, we are going to lean towards the media outlet
that agrees with us.
Another contradiction to the medias powerful influence is that
American culture and politics are also to blame for punitive attitudes,
considering how much different our systems are compared to most
countries around the world. In terms of our culture, we put emphasis
on individualism and having personal responsibility for your actions;
therefore, our perception of crime is one we create on our own rather

Larissa Lance
College Writing II Essay III
Ms. Brenneman
May 6, 2015
than a result of social circumstances. Defending the news while
blaming the entertainment industry, our culture sees crime and
violence as staples for good entertainment, leaving the entertainment
industry to influence the news media, which then influences our
society. In terms of politics, depending on what political party we
declare ourselves loyal to, we will look at crime, and any other issues,
the same way that our political party does; only after following the
views of our party do we then choose the media outlet that agrees with
us (Beale, 2006).
In this day and age, media is all around us, giving little room for
personal thought. While one might believe they feel a certain way on
their own, subconsciously, it is very likely that they have heard that
belief somewhere else. So, while the above-mentioned theories are
fine, and understandable, it is my personal belief that no matter how
hard we try, the media will always be there with something to say and
a thought to put in your head.
My first research question was, when does the influence of
media begin to influence our view of crime? At what age? This
question was never answered due to lack of research done on the
topic; I would suggest conducting a questionnaire, asking children of
different ages various questions about their view on crime. My second
research question was, How does the influence of media lead people

Larissa Lance
College Writing II Essay III
Ms. Brenneman
May 6, 2015
to commit crimes? I got my answer to this question in a different way
than I expected, with research showing that media portrayal of crime
leads to fear rather than aggression. Third, I asked, What do people
believe crime rates to be based on what they see in the media? My
research showed me that crime rates are believed to be higher,
especially with minorities as the perpetrators of the crimes. Fourth, I
asked, What crime do people believe to be committed more often?
While I did not get a direct answer, I did find that people believed there
was more violent crime in the world than non-violent crime. Lastly, I
asked, how does the portrayal of crime lead to unrealistic
expectations for victims and victims family? This was answered
through my research of television crime shows rather than news
broadcasts, showing that the unrealistic timelines showed on television
lead people to be frustrated by the length of the process in real life.
People are bombarded with information about crime by the
media, which makes them believe the world is a much more dangerous
place than it really is. This creates a climate of fear that can
negatively affect the way we live, the way we go to work, the times we
shop, and the precautions we take for our families and children (Warr,
2008). Crime rates in the United States are dropping although seven
out of ten Americans would say that there is more crime in the U.S.
than there was a year ago. With the decline of crimes committed

Larissa Lance
College Writing II Essay III
Ms. Brenneman
May 6, 2015
comes the rise of crimes reported through the media. Every day, we
see more and more stories about violent crimes committed in our
country, leading us to see things in a skewed perception. Because of
crime portrayal in the media, we automatically see minorities as being
dangerous and we raise our guard around them, thinking we are more
prone to being victims. My research showed me the true light of media
and their influence on crime, teaching me how to be better in terms of
consuming what I read, watch, or hear from others. I encourage others
to do the same and I hope that by doing this research and writing this
paper, I can better educate those who do not see the media for what it
truly is: a corrupt organization we are supposed to depend on.

Word Count: 2495

Larissa Lance
College Writing II Essay III
Ms. Brenneman
May 6, 2015

References
Beale, S. (2006). The News Media's Influence on Criminal Justice Policy:
How Market-Driven News Promotes Punitiveness. William and
Mary Law Review, 48(2). Retrieved from
http://scholarship.law.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
article=1103&context=wmlr
Dowler, K. (2003). Media Consumption and Public Attitudes Towards
Crime and Justice: The Relationship Between Fear of Crime,
Punitive Attitudes, and Perceived Police Effectiveness. Journal of
Criminal Justice and Popular Culture, 10(2), 109-126. Retrieved
from http://www.albany.edu/scj/jcjpc/vol10is2/dowler.html
Gerbner, G. and L. Gross and M. Morgan and N. Signoriell. (1980). The
Mainstreaming of America: Violence Profile Number 11. Journal
of Communications, 30, 10-29.
Haghighi, B. and J. Sorensen. (1996). Americans Fear Crime. Americans
View Crime and Justice: A National Public Opinion Survey.
Liska, A. and Baccaglini, W. (1990). Feeling Safe by Comparison: Crime
in the Newspapers. Social Problems, 37, 360-74.

Larissa Lance
College Writing II Essay III
Ms. Brenneman
May 6, 2015
Steffenmeier, D. (2002). Gender and Crime. Retrieved from
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3403000129.html
Table 33. (2013, August 2). Retrieved from http://www.fbi.gov/aboutus/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2012/crime-in-the-u.s.2012/tables/33tabledatadecoverviewpdf
Table 43. (2013, August 7). Retrieved from http://www.fbi.gov/aboutus/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2012/crime-in-the-u.s.2012/tables/43tabledatadecoverviewpdf