The End of Police Stenography? Critical Crime News Work After Black Lives Matter

• In Event: 30662 - Section on Crime, Law, and Deviance Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 3: Policing Issues 2

Abstract

Following the advent of Black Lives Matter in 2014, journalists have been criticized by social movement actors for reports which reproduce (often inaccurate) police narratives. Prior research suggests that journalists contributed to mass incarceration by stoking fears of Black criminality. Close relationships with criminal justice actors present a quagmire for reporters, whose authority stems from their ability to accurately depict events of general interest. Have reporters become more skeptical of criminal justice sources? Drawing on interviews with journalists, I find that a new journalistic role has emerged: the critical crime reporter. This role emerges from decreased interaction between reporters and law enforcement, sources’ dishonesty, and social movement pressures. Critical reporters develop adversarial sources within law enforcement, amplify voices in other organizations, and engage in contextual reporting. This study contributes to the political sociology of American criminalization by detailing the influence of Black social movements on variation in news organization practices.

Author

• Jonathan Ben-Menachem, Columbia University