Media Construction of Crime Revisited: Media Influence on Perceptions of Crime Trends and Policy Opinion

• In Event: Constructing Legitimacy and Criminality in the Media

Abstract

This study sheds new light on a key line of inquiry for criminologists: the effect of media on perceptions of crime. Rather than focusing on fear, the current study examines the relationship between media consumption and perceptions of local and national crime trends as well as support for crime policies. The study utilizes two national surveys matched with contextual data to explore several important questions. First, given trends in television and internet news consumption, the study compares the relative influence of different news sources. Second, the study considers the potential influence of fictional representations of crime – specifically crime dramas. Finally, acknowledging the importance of race in perceptions and media depictions of crime, the study explores variation across race and the racial context. Results indicate that viewers of television news and crime dramas are more likely to perceive rising crime locally and nationally; they are also more likely to support the death penalty and increased spending on crime control. Furthermore, there is a conditional effect by race and racial context: the influence of this media consumption is strongest among white respondents who live in communities with larger numbers of African-Americans. Implications for research and theory are discussed.

Authors

• Andrew J. Baranauskas, Northeastern University

• Kevin Drakulich, Northeastern University