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CJE3444 - Crime Prevention
Dr. E. Buchholz
Chapter 7 - The Mass Media and Crime Prevention
Mass Media
• Mass media is not limited to television media
• Included in the discussion of media are:
o Newspapers
o Magazines
o Video games
o Music
o Television/Movies
o And other information gathering sources
Crime and the Media
 The Level of Reported Crime
o Crime stories comprise between roughly 5 percent and 30 percent of newspaper space
 Crime represents 10% of news stories and 13 to 18% of the broadcast time
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Media Accounts and Actual Crime
o correspondence between the media portrayal of crime and the actual extent and types of
criminal activity shows a great deal of divergence
Actual Crime vs. Media
 Media reports distort the actual level of crime.
 Media outlets focus more on violent crime than property crime although ¾’s of crime is property
crime.
 Homicides are over reported at rates 1000x higher than real life.
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Why does the media focus on violent crime?
Should they focus more on other crimes or positive events?
What draws you in to the news?
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Entertainment Programs
o Fictional Programs
 Law and Order, The Shield, CSI, Blue Blood, NCIS
o Reality Programs
 American’s Most Wanted, Cops
 40% of prime-time programs focus on law enforcement and the criminal justice system.
 The media distorts the crime picture
o Focuses on selected types of crime
o Overemphasizes the level of crime
o Fails to provide accurate or complete information about criminal incidents
Let’s not forget political bias…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zm72iL1pqak
Media and Fear
• Residents perceptions of crime mirror those of television and newspapers.
• Correlations between actual aggression and levels of violence of most watched TV programs
have been found.
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• Serious crime and violent TV exposure have been linked.
• Local crime stories, especially violent crime, raise the level of fear among viewers/readers.
THE MEDIA AND CRIME
 Media presentations may increase people’s fear
o stories that place the offense in a framework familiar to the reader have a greater impact
than those more removed from the reader’s experiences
o television and radio news is related to fear, while written news has less relationship with
fear levels
MASS MEDIA CRIME PREVENTION ACTIVITIES
Extraordinary Findings
 Phillips (1982) found that the U.S. suicide rate and attempted suicides significantly increased
after soap opera suicides.
 Phillips’ second study (1983) reports a significant increase in homicide 3 to 4 days after
heavyweight prize fights and the effect is greater for the more publicized fights.
 The U.S. Attorney General’s Commission on Pornography (1986) concludes that there is a direct
link between viewing pornography and aggression.
Mass Media & Crime Prevention
 The McGruff Campaign
 “Take a Bite out of Crime”
 Crime Newsletters
 Information lines
 Drug Hotlines/ Crime Stoppers
 Media outlets (America’s Most Wanted)
MASS MEDIA CRIME PREVENTION ACTIVITIES
THE MCGRUFF PREVENTION CAMPAIGN
 Public service announcements
o feature a cartoon character known as “McGruff” (a dog in a trench coat)
o presents simulated crimes and notes the proper actions viewers should take
 Different themes or issues have appeared in the television, radio, and print announcements
 Emphasis throughout the campaign is on individual and community ability to take action
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McGruff Objectives
o Alter the public’s feelings about crime and the CJ system
o Generate feelings of citizen responsibility for crime and crime prevention
o Enhance citizen cooperation with the CJ system for fighting crime
o Enhance already existing crime prevention efforts
“Take a Bite Out of Crime”
 One of the largest law enforcement campaigns
 Recognized by over 75% of youths
 Studies of the McGruff Campaign have produced promising, but conflicting results
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MASS MEDIA CRIME PREVENTION ACTIVITIES
THE McGRUFF PREVENTION CAMPAIGN
• First evaluation
• Survey of 1,200 adults from across the country
o 50% of the respondents saw the campaign announcements
o only 3% of this figure were able to recall the advertisements without some prompting
o 90% of the respondents were able to describe specific suggestions made, and 22%
learned something new
o more than 50% felt more responsible for crime prevention because of the advertisements,
and 25% reported taking precautions
MASS MEDIA CRIME PREVENTION ACTIVITIES
THE McGRUFF PREVENTION CAMPAIGN
• Panel survey
o wide exposure to the campaign materials
o level of interest in the materials was higher for those already concerned with crime and
crime prevention
o exposure to the advertisements had no impact on perceptions of neighborhood crime,
perceived changes in the crime rate, or a sense of safety at night
o exposure resulted in positive changes in crime prevention activities
MASS MEDIA CRIME PREVENTION ACTIVITIES
THE McGRUFF PREVENTION CAMPAIGN
• Second evaluation
o interviewing a national sample of adults, including law enforcement and media
representatives
o 80% citizens reported seeing the announcements
o media and law enforcement respondents noted that the materials were valuable
• Need to find ways to reach vulnerable groups in society
MASS MEDIA CRIME PREVENTION ACTIVITIES
Other Campaigns
 “Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving” public service announcement campaign
 minimal impact based on self-report data
 National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign
o More than 75 percent of teens are aware of the campaign
o Teens who are aware report significantly stronger anti-drug beliefs than those unaware of
the program
 Inconsistent and weak results in some program evaluations suggest that the programs may need to
be better targeted
MASS MEDIA CRIME PREVENTION ACTIVITIES
CRIME NEWSLETTERS
• Can be targeted to a more limited audience and tailored to the needs of those individuals
• May provide detailed, in-depth discussions of both crime and potential crime prevention
measures
• More effective campaign relies on hand distribution
of the newsletter
• Education level influences the actual level of readership and the amount of impact
• Need to tailor to the community
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Newsletters work as an informative tool for smaller communities
Usually include crime statistics, tips, and potential contact information for reporting crime
They do have the potential to increase fear in the community
However, they often target the specific needs of smaller communities, neighborhoods, or streets
MASS MEDIA CRIME PREVENTION ACTIVITIES
INFORMATION LINES
• Solicitation of information about specific crimes from the public
• Most widely known program is Crime Stoppers
o offers rewards to citizens for information about crimes
o unsolved offenses
o guaranteed anonymity for the information
o 1,193 programs around the world found in 24 countries
Crime Stoppers
• Media outlets which promote information sharing among citizens and police for unsolved cases
or those with no leads.
MASS MEDIA CRIME PREVENTION ACTIVITIES
INFORMATION LINES (cont’d)
• Police departments now post crime videos and information on unsolved crimes on the
organization web-sites, YouTube, Facebook, and others asking for viewers to provide information
o agencies can publicize events very quickly
o many more videos and events can be posted compared to broadcast media
o can reach entirely new audiences
• No indication that programs like Crime Stoppers have reduced crime or the fear of crime
MASS MEDIA CRIME PREVENTION ACTIVITIES
CRIME-TIME TELEVISION
 Focus on previously unsolved crimes in prime time
 “America’s Most Wanted,” “Unsolved Mysteries,” and “Top Cops” in the United States and
“Crimewatch U.K.” in the United Kingdom
o re-enact serious crimes for which no offender has been apprehended
o viewers prompted to call a toll-free telephone number to report any information they may
have
o claim to have resulted in many arrests
Crime Time TV
 AMW reports 1,202 captures as of Fall 2013.
 However, these numbers can be misleading because no true statistic is known to the impact the
show had on the capture of the fugitive.
MASS MEDIA CRIME PREVENTION ACTIVITIES
 Can potentially bias court cases and lead to appeals based on excessive pretrial publicity and the
inability to seat an unbiased jury
 Viewers may generalize from the response being promoted in the program (such as simply calling
for help) to other possible responses not featured in the program—known as response
generalization
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PUBLICITY AND PREVENTION
 Smaller scale and targeted publicity about prevention programs and initiatives can have an impact
on the success of crime prevention efforts
 Publicity may reduce crime in and of itself
o anticipatory benefit—changes in crime that predate the actual implementation of a crime
prevention program
o a form of diffusion of benefits
o several studies reveal evidence of anticipatory benefits stemming from publicity
THE MEDIA’S RESPONSIBILITY
FOR CRIME PREVENTION
Lavrakas (1997)
 The media must assume some of the blame for the continued failure of policies to deal with crime
 Media fails to critically assess claims regarding the efficacy of crime control policies
 Media should be critically questioning positions and challenging politicians to provide proof for
their arguments
 Media rarely deals with the substantive merit of the various measures being debated
Summary
 The use of media can have positive results in the apprehension of criminals.
 Media also can increase citizen’s fear of crime.
 The use of different forms of media (newsletters, hotlines) can greatly influence the role of
neighborhood watch efforts to reduce local crime.