Framing of criminal justice and crime in the news: 2015-2017

ABSTRACT

This study examined newspaper coverage of crime and criminal justice issues from 2015 through 2017, a period that encompassed significant political change. A total of 300 articles from four major national newspapers were coded for the presence of punitive and progressive crime- and criminal justice-related themes in order to assess whether, and how, the presence of these themes may have changed over time. Results indicated that the average number of articles with at least one progressive theme did not decrease overall, and there were substantially more articles with at least one progressive theme than those with at least one punitive theme. The progressive themes displayed a greater emphasis on arguments for reform rooted in social and justice-based considerations, compared to those based on fiscal savings or other practical considerations. However, keyword searches indicated that there may have been a decreased focus overall in major broadcast news and newspaper on the criminal justice system and criminal justice reform during this time period.

KEYWORDS:

• Criminal justice news
• criminal justice reporting
• media framing

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Professor Rebecca Covarrubias and Professor Doug Bonett, University of California, Santa Cruz, and the two anonymous reviewers for their comments on earlier drafts of this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. All confidence intervals reported were calculated at the 95% confidence level. Proportion confidence intervals are Wilson confidence intervals with continuity correction (Fleiss, Levin, and Paik 2003).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sarah Camille Conrey

Sarah Camille Conrey is a doctoral student in social psychology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in social psychology from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a juris doctorate from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.

Craig Haney

Craig Haney is a Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who conducts research on and writes about a wide variety of criminal justice topics, including the role of media in shaping criminal justice perceptions and policies.