Journalist’s Trade

My local newspaper, The Iowa City Press-Citizen, advertises: “Paper carriers are independent businesspersons, buying newspapers at wholesale, selling them at retail and pocketing the profits. And…the profits can be substantial.”…

There are some important lessons we’ve learned about how the coverage of violence—especially juvenile violence—influences the way many of us think about teenagers and crime. Related Article “What Numbers Can…

336% = the percentage increase in coverage of homicide on NBC, ABC, and CBS nightly news between 1990 and 1995. During this time, homicide arrests dropped by 13%. 99% =…

Why Words We Use Matter So Much

The funeral of a Boston youth. Photo by Stan Grossfeld.There is little doubt that television coverage contributes to the public hysteria about youth crime. In particular, local television news plays…

Picture these scenes from two local TV news stories:A young pilot accepts the cheers of well-wishers as she completes a solo cross-country flight, becoming the youngest person ever to do…

Reporting on crime and violence has been a staple in the newspaper diet since before the pennycress. In that time, one by-product of this coverage has remained consistent: readers have…

In 1995, Jane Ellen Stevens, a science writer, embarked on a collaborative project with Dr. Lori Dorfman, Director of the Berkeley Media Studies Group, a public health research organization, and…

Youngster at Wayne County Juvenile Justice Center in Detroit. Photo by Pauline Lubens/The Detroit Free Press.In ancient times, a coin was flipped to assist people in important decisions of life.…

In a year when journalism is running wild on the Internet and the transgressions of the press have made headlines, e.g. CNN’s nerve gas broadcast, the fabricated stories in The…