Portraying crime news
honestly
Creating a more "honest" portrayal of local
crime and the criminal justice system requires a two-part approach. The
first part of the plan involves reeducating the public through local news
broadcast. Support within the news organization and ties to news sources
are an initial concern. After support is in place, the process begins
with a change in the news format. Accurate information on crime is
integrating through the use of elegant sound bytes from respected sources, investigative
reporting and weekly segments highlighting courts, police, and
corrections. Meanwhile, a simultaneous campaign would be launched
attacking the use of statistical scare tactics used to manipulate the
public. News on
This project relies on that everyone being in agreement on the idea of
accurately reporting crime news. Likewise, we must have money to perform
our tasks. Our commercials must also tell the story of how we are determined to
portray the news in an "honest" fashion with out all the hype.
When this is in place the process begins.
For my first priority, I would seek to establish friendships with key officials
in the police force courts and prisons. In exchange for a primarily
positive spin in representation of their organizations, my team and I would
seek open access to the courts and prisons. I would explain that my
objective was to de-vilify participants in the criminal justice system through
educating the public on what really happens in the system. Also, I would
cultivate goodwill between our newsroom and others who monitor nontraditional
crime such as Fish and Game Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission,
Federal Communication Commission and the IRS.
My station would revamp the news hour. It would be divided up like mini
segments similar to CNN where you know what time to tune in for specific types
of news. The
End with a happy story or goofy picture of people enjoying life.
We would start with an aggressive campaign to educate the public. We
would have experts such local government officials, police officials and
criminologist address the public in elegant sound bytes stating the infrequency
of violent crimes. The public education campaign would be integrated into
the crime news segment of the newscast. Exciting graphic displays and
pictures would be spliced into the story with the expert speaking in the
background.
Investigative reporting on local crime would be encouraged. We would
emphasize how local people are impacted by crime through putting a dollar
amount the cost. I would show how the process connects from start to
finish. We would show local people reacting to crime by showing a
continuing process of one accused person in two-minute weekly rotating
segment. It would be called LOCALS. The weekly segments would be
titled based on the system; titles are called Arrest, Arraignment Day, Plea,
and Lockdown. That way each month, the audience would get to see the
continuing story of the local criminal justice system. The first minute
would show the actual processing; the second minute would show those involved
telling their side of the story of how their life is being impacted. I
would work hard to make sure that the crimes were not all inner city type
problems such as drugs, but problems that involved people from all walks of
life.
If a court story was leading the news, court actions may be discussed with a
short blurb from an attorney or judge explaining the true nature of the system
during the
On the other hand, if a trial with a conviction occurred, the defendant would
be shown in the background. In the foreground there would be large scrolling
statistics across the television screen of how frequently trials end in
conviction.
The biggest challenge would be to change how police are portrayed. First,
I would limit the images of police handcuffing young black men unless it was
absolutely integral to the plot to the story. Second, we would do a few
mini exposes on real police work. We would follow the officers in the
course of a day showing brief snippets of what they really do. Third, we
would show police talking to people in a civilized manner. This must be
done with whites and minority in proportion to the white and minority
population. We might have to stage this until police become acclimated to
speak with respect to all manner of people in non-arrest situations.
Last, we would show that there may be hours of uneventful patrol and paperwork,
but when emergencies happen they are effective in resolving many issues.
Most segments would end with the cop making a gesture to apprehend the
perpetrator. These gestures may include sirens going off or a cop racing
down the road in a patrol car. This positive image and good will is
necessary to keep the lines of communication open between law enforcement and journalism.
Because of the good will, our news team would request open access to all crime,
not just the bloody stuff. That way the journalist can make accurate
comparisons for violent and nonviolent crimes and prepare news stories
accordingly.
Prisons would be dealt with in a similar manner. Stories about the impact
of criminal laws on prisons would be inserted when possible. When
possible, interviews with prison guards and inmates would reinforce how real
prison is and how it impacts many lives. For high interest stories that
end with prison time, a few moments would be devoted to showing that person
behind bars. Sound bytes that give explanations of life behind bars would
be added to the pictures. Some would address the high financial cost of
crime. Others would provide a commentary of why we need more prison
monies or alternatives to incarceration. Opinions of the correctional
officers would often be inserted to give the newscast a documentary feel.
At the same time I would launch an active campaign to inform the public that
they are being victimized by scary statistics. We would have an
ongoing weekly presentation on the reality of crime in state, city and each
community. We would highlight what crimes occur most often in each
community with occasional commentary on causes. I would show reenactments
of crimes using the actual ratio of how often different types of crime
occurred. We might see a lot of reenactments of domestic violence and
theft but rarely would we see anything about satanic cults and murder.
With these rare crimes I would have experts come on to express to the audience
how rare these occurrences are.
A big part of the education campaign would be to show that there are those who
want to manipulate the public by portraying crime as out of control. To counter
that, comparisons about crime would include comparing crimes to other unusual
life events. For example I would show that your chances of being the
victim of a serial murder are smaller than your chances of being struck by
lightning.
On slow news days, we would insert investigative reporting stories about
criminal justice statewide. I would try to tie in information about
I would enact part two at the same time as the changes in news coverage.
I would call up local middle and high schools and work out a plan to get my
people inside to do presentations about crime and journalism. The goal of
plan is to create a generational shift in thinking. I would go in
with the premise of teaching about the first amendment, or research or computer
literacy. In the process I would present a program on how to use media
without being drawn into its hype.
Part of the education would be teaching kids how to research true sources of
information and vital statistics. They would be taught to question the
motives of politicians, journalist and spokespeople who decry outrageous crime
trends. They would be taught to look for legislation and evaluate how it
will affect certain groups. I would teach kids how to recognize signs of public
hysteria and trends and encourage them to write letters and emails to the press
when they go onto their sensational tangents. They would be encouraged to
listen to what the politicians were saying and question it as well. The
children would take this message back home to their parents. I would
encourage the kids to discuss issues with their parents and ask them how they
have been personally affected by crime. Through this process the parents
would feel a need to question the sensational media accounts. Then I
would have a market for "honest" reporting.
The foundation of "honest" crime news
is organizational support as well as support from newsmakers. When good
working relationships have been established, access to accurate information
about police, courts and corrections can be accessed and used to create
appropriate news stories. A need for this type of news can be established
by reeducating the public and school aged children to demand "honest"
reporting.