Studies criticize TV news for preoccupation with crime

by David Bauder
AP Television Writer

NEW YORK, NY (AP) - Lock the door, hide your valuables. The local television news is on.

Two new studies have measured local TV news shows' preoccupation with crime stories, and suggest it may help create a public attitude of cynicism and fear.

Crime stories took up twice as much time on local news as reports on politics, health, education or any other topic, according to one study coordinated by the University of Miami's communications school.

And the organization Rocky Mountain Media Watch said the local news shows it studied averaged 43 percent on its ``mayhem index'' -- meaning nearly half of the news reported was violent fare like crime or disasters.

``This kind of tabloid journalism is empty calories for the mind,'' said Paul Klite, head of the Denver-based Rocky Mountain Media Watch. ``It doesn't empower you to get involved in events within your community.''

His group studied the content of 100 local broadcasts on a single night, Feb. 26, when the biggest national news story was about the Clinton fund-raising scandal.

One station high on its mayhem index, WSOC in Charlotte, N.C., reported on two ambulance accidents, a robbery at an ATM machine, two sex offenders, a shooting, a truck being hit by a bullet, the trial of a negligent mother and a father holding his daughter at knife-point.

WSOC was sixth in its study with a mayhem index of 74.5 percent. The top five were WXYZ in Detroit at 92.4 percent; KNBC in Los Angeles at 81.6; WJLA in Washington at 76.3; KETV in Omaha, Neb., at 75.2, and KPNX in Phoenix at 75.1, the group said.

Crime coverage has remained steady over the past few years even though the crime rate has dropped, Klite said.

``You get this body bag journalism over and over again,'' said Joseph Angotti, who directed the Miami study. ``I think it has a numbing effect on the public. People withdraw from activities because of fear.''

Angotti's study looked at local broadcasts in Miami; New York; Chicago; Syracuse, N.Y.; Austin, Texas; Indianapolis; Eugene, Ore., and Los Angeles during four months late last year and this year.

Crime news is tempting to news directors because it's often packed with good visuals and easy to do, conceded Barbara Cochran, president of the Radio and Television News Directors Association in Washington.

But it can't be ignored, she said, and often provides a public service when it warns people of dangerous situations.<

``There's no question that the chamber of commerce of a given community is not thrilled to see the reports of crime. But that doesn't mean that it doesn't exist or that we shouldn't report on it,'' she said.

Cochran said, however, that there's been a trend away from crime stories among many news directors, or at least an attempt to put the stories in perspective.

Klite said his study noted the same thing. He cited three local broadcasts -- KVUE in Austin, cable channel News Channel 12 on New York state's Long Island, and KTCA in Minneapolis -- for succeeding with substantive broadcasts.