On this page we have placed the publications that have resulted from the work of the Local TV News Media Project.  They appear in PDF format.  In addition to our own work, we will update the page with publications about the news media from other sources.

Publications from the Local TV News Media Project

1. Crime Creep: Urban & Suburban Crime on Local TV News

Danilo Yanich. This article was published in the Journal of Urban Affairs, Vol. 26, Number 5, 2004

Crime has fallen in the United States in the past eight years, yet public opinion polls indicate that crime and public safety are over-riding concerns of citizens in communities. Polls also tell us that a significant majority of our citizens get most of their information from local television news and, in general, they believe what they are being shown and told. In short, these newscasts play a pre-eminent role in the social construction of reality and, by extension, in forming the cognitive maps that citizens use to understand their communities. This paper examines how the press, particularly local television news, portrays the urban–suburban dimensions of crime in twenty television markets across the U.S. It is an major extension of an earlier study of two markets (see article # 3 below). Findings show that local newscasts in the markets consistently focused on suburban crime in spite of the fact that the suburban crime rate was about one-half of the crime rate of urban areas. The newscasts also regularly conveyed the message that the city was a dangerous place

2. Kids, Crime & Local TV News: A National Study

Danilo Yanich. This article was published in Crime & Delinquency, Vol. 51, Number 1, January 2005

The vast majority of crime reporting occurs locally, on local television news and in newspapers. In the course of human interaction, crimes are extraordinary events, but they assume an ordinariness that only daily reporting can give them. The obvious question is what does the news tell us about crime. This research is a significant expansion of my previous study (see article # 6) from two television markets to twenty markets across the United States.

In this paper I focus on the presentation of crime on local television news. Specifically, I compare the coverage of adult crime and the coverage of what I have termed “KidsCrime”. KidsCrime is defined as a crime story in which a juvenile (under 18 years of age) was either the suspect or the victim (or both). What is the nature of that coverage? How consistent is this portrait of crime with official statistics? What aspects of the criminal justice system receive attention? Are there differences between adult crime and KidsCrime coverage regarding offenses, victimization, production techniques, and other attributes?

This examination of the coverage of crime on local television news revealed: (1) significant differences between KidsCrime and adult crime coverage; (2) a portrait of crime that was both consistent and inconsistent with official statistics; (3) a presentation approach that discouraged critical viewing.

3.  Location, Location, Location: Urban & Suburban Crime on Local TV News

Danilo Yanich.  This article was published in the Journal of Urban Affairs, Vol 23, Number 3-4, 2001.

Abstract:  Even though crime has fallen in the United States in the past six years, public opinion polls indicate that crime and public safety are the over-riding concerns of citizens in communities.  These polls tell us that a significant majority of our citizens get most of their information from local television news and, in general, they believe what they are being shown and told.  In short, these newscasts play a pre-eminent role in the social construction of reality and, by extension, in forming the cognitive maps that citizens use to understand their communities. This paper examines how the press, particularly local television news, portrays the urban–suburban dimensions of crime in two major television markets in the U.S.  Findings show that local newscasts in the markets differed significantly along the urban--suburban dimension of crime coverage.  But they were consistent in the message that the city was a dangerous place. This paper suggests how this type of message in turn influences the shape of public policy responses.

4.  Crime, Community & Local TV News: Covering Crime in Philadelphia & Baltimore

Danilo Yanich, 1998.  Funded by the Soros Foundation’s Center for Crime, Communities & Culture.

Abstract: News organizations make crucial decisions about what is and what is not news. The news we see as citizens constructs the frame through which we see our social environment and it imparts a public character to occurrences and transforms mere happenings into public events. Very often the media, particularly local television news choose crime to form a major portion of the newscast. What is the nature of that coverage?  What might that coverage mean for the community’s cognitive map of its character?  Can we develop a program to constructively engage possible changes in that coverage? 

5.  Making the Movies Real: The Death Penalty & Local TV News 

Danilo Yanich.   This article was published in Crime, Law and Social Change, Vol. 26, No. 4, 1996/1997, pp.303-328

Abstract: Media organizations, particularly the broadcast media, have become extremely important actors on the public stage over the last three decades.  As a result, what the media chose to cover and how they chose to cover it is an important question.  That is magnified when the media turn their attention to a public policy issue like the death penalty that already possesses profound social significance.  In no other area of public policy can the state impose its will so completely and finally on an individual citizen.  Therefore, the public should understand the issues that surround capital punishment.  That understanding is virtually always communicated through media organizations because very few of us have first-hand knowledge of the death penalty.  In this paper, I explore how television broadcast organizations cover the imposition of the death penalty.  How did they carry it out?  What themes did they convey?  What did the public learn?

6.  Kids, Crime & Local TV News

Danilo Yanich.  1999. Funded by the Jessie Ball duPont Fund

Abstract:  The refrain echoes over and over: “All you have to do is watch the news and you’ll know how much crime there is”.  It is offered by policy-makers and citizens alike as proof that crime is increasing.  The sentiment is that the domestic defense is being violated, often by our youngest citizens, and something must be done.  Citing news as the source of this understanding of crime, particularly crime involving juveniles, presents important social questions. What is the nature of the crime coverage for adults and juveniles?  How does it compare to the official portrait of crime? We explored these questions by examining local TV news crime reporting in Baltimore and Philadelphia.

7.  Framing Responsibility on Local Television News

Lisa Budzilowicz.  2002.  Funded by the Jessie Ball duPont Fund

Abstract:  Using Shanto Iyengar’s model of the framing of news, we examined how local television newscasts frame crime stories.  What are the dominant frames of responsibility in local television news coverage of crime?  How does news production relate to framing for crime as a public issue?