John Gramlich and Kirsen Eddy at Pew:
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There are many possible reasons why Americans might believe crime is on the rise in the U.S., even when government statistics show the opposite. But a new Pew Research Center survey examines one potential factor shaping public perceptions: local news coverage about crime. The survey is from the Pew-Knight Initiative, a research program funded jointly by The Pew Charitable Trusts and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Here are some of the key findings from the survey:
Crime gets a lot of attention in local news. An old journalism cliché – “If it bleeds, it leads” – refers to the prominent placement of (often sensationalized) news stories about crime. While the Center’s survey doesn’t confirm the cliché, it shows that crime is among the most widely consumed local news topics
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