QUANTIFYING SOURCES AND VIEWPOINTS IN CRIME REPORTING

The Center for Just Journalism (CJJ) is a resource for journalists covering public safety issues that aims to support stories that are rooted in fact, lack sensationalism, and enhance public understanding of safety. CJJ engaged a Capstone team to investigate the diversity of sources and viewpoints that journalists include in written news pieces about crime and the legal system. The team conducted a content analysis to quantify the frequency at which law enforcement and non-law enforcement sources are quoted in stories, as well as the viewpoints expressed by different source types related to policing, adjudication, incarceration, and other strategies to address crime. The team used a random sample of 300 US-based crime stories to develop a codebook to analyze sources used and viewpoints expressed. The team’s final deliverables to CJJ included a research report detailing the findings of the content analysis, recommendations for further research, and a guide for journalists to audit their own reporting.