This article is based on new data from Pew on popular local news topics.
Crime was the second most important local news topic (weather was first). The vast majority of news consumers were not satisfied with the coverage of crime.
Law enforcement is trusted more than most institutions, especially during emergencies. There’s an opportunity here if we choose to embrace it.
There is a record fear of crime in America per Gallup. Crime remains a top election priority for most US citizens.
Question: Where are people getting their information on local crime? Pew’s research below tracks the sources of information and how satisfied people are with the details they get. Pew refers to these topics as local “political news” but the topics include sports and weather.
After weather, crime is the most important news topic but few are satisfied with the quality of crime coverage.
Most people get their local news from friends and family (70 percent), local news producers (66 percent), and social media (54 percent).
This Is Not Your Parent’s News Media
Nationally, the media is taking a beating regarding monetary losses, fewer subscribers, and loss of reporters. The days of the knowledgeable and savvy crime reporter are almost gone.
So for one of the most important topics of our time, media coverage most often comes from general assignment reporters who deal with multiple and divergent topics daily and may not understand the implications of crime or emergency management reporting.
A standard policy of government emergency management is to watch, read, and listen to commercial news sites to make sure they are providing accurate reporting and to quickly correct their mistakes.
What This Means For Law Enforcement And The Justice System
The primary sources of crime news come most often from friends, family, and social media. This gives police and others an opportunity to communicate immediately and accurately through their social media platforms and other proactive outreach initiatives.
It’s a matter of trust. Surveys of citizen perceptions of institutions show an immense amount of trust and confidence in law enforcement and far less for the media (although local media ranks higher than their national counterparts). Trust in law enforcement is even more important during emergencies.
Example
Per the Associated Press, in the United Kingdom, rumors regarding the attack on a dance studio where a stabbing attack that left three little girls dead and several more in critical condition led to violent clashes with police. The charges came as the traumatized town of Southport cleaned up after a bout of far-right violence, and agitators fired up by anger and misinformation clashed with police near the prime minister’s residence in London.
The problem was based on rumors about the ethnic identity of the attacker. If UK police had moved fast enough to provide information, would it have quelled massive and violent protests?
An Opportunity
Most local news comes from those you know or social media. In that case, the data indicates that law enforcement and justice agencies have an opportunity to convey information in real time through social media, audio-video podcasts, and traditional media. We’ve all seen where inaccurate information can drive citizen misinformation.
It’s now up to law enforcement and the larger justice system to embrace the technology and skills necessary to communicate accurate information on their own. There are options beyond traditional media that we need to explore.
Communicating immediately takes on an immense responsibility. After 35 years of directing media relations for state and national criminal justice and emergency management organizations, being confident about your information is extremely challenging. Breaking news is always a first draft of history and we have all seen that early reports can range from incomplete to inaccurate.
It takes trusted (by insiders and the public) public information officers to make judgment decisions about what’s released and how it’s offered. It’s standard operating policy for emergency management teams.
Does that mean that local law enforcement becomes an original media source? As strange as it may sound to some, yes. There are times when it’s in our collective best interest to get verified information out as quickly as possible. There are times when it could save lives.
Whether it’s an emergency or upsetting breaking news, skilled public information officers can use their own resources to break stories “or” engage the Associated Press, talk radio, or other traditional news sources to ensure accuracy and fairness.
It’s a new day and if we within the justice system want to make sure that the best possible information reaches the public as soon as possible, it is now incumbent on us to have the technology, training, and skills to understand what’s happening and to communicate it accurately through mainstream media “or” communication strategies we control.
Pew (selected edited quotes)
Americans want information about local government and politics. Most say they are at least somewhat interested in news about local laws and policies and local elections. And about two-thirds say they often or sometimes get local political news – higher than the shares who get news on several other local topics, including the economy and sports.
But among Americans who get news on local politics, only a quarter are highly satisfied with the quality of the news they get (emphasis added), according to a new Pew Research Center survey. Those who get news about weather, traffic and several other topics are more likely to be satisfied with the news they get in those areas.
We asked these questions to better understand how Americans get local political news at a time when many local news outlets are struggling, local news consumption habits are becoming more digital, and public attention to local news is declining. This report, the second in a series focused on local news, is part of the Pew-Knight Initiative, a research program funded jointly by The Pew Charitable Trusts and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
U.S. adults get news about local government and politics from a variety of different sources. The most common are friends, family and neighbors (70%) and local news outlets (66%).
Just over half (54%) also say they often or sometimes get news about local politics from social media.
Smaller shares say they at least sometimes get local political news from local government websites (32%), local nonprofits or advocacy groups (31%), or local politicians (30%).
There are gaps between younger and older adults in some of the sources they turn to for local political news:
71% of U.S. adults ages 18 to 29 get news about local government and politics from social media often or sometimes, compared with 36% of those 65 and older.
Conversely, Americans 65 and older are more inclined than adults under 30 to get local political news from local news outlets (75% vs. 53%) and from local politicians (39% vs. 20%).
Similar shares of older and younger adults get news about local politics from friends, family and neighbors.
Source
Conclusions
Multiple national news organizations are calling for better, more comprehensive crime and police coverage; they all seem to admonish reporters not to take the word of police representatives as truth.
The Associated Press released The Associated Press Stylebook 57th edition, which includes a new chapter on criminal justice reporting.
The premise of many of these organizations is that law enforcement and justice organizations “can” be self-serving entities that need fact-checking.
Government being transparent and accountable through the media is not something I disagree with. Their right to question us is Constitutionally protected. But the paradox is that while they are suspicious of us, we are correctly wary of them when information is flowing fast and furious and could have major repercussions.
Media can provide plenty of examples of government spokespeople getting it self-servingly wrong. Emergency management training will provide numerous instances of reporters either not understanding what they are covering or incorrectly reporting breaking news.
New general assignment reporters cannot be expected to have the backgrounds or experience of veteran crime journalists and their mistakes could prove costly.
It may now be in our collective best interest to immediately offer accurate information through our own communication strategies as well as relaying information through the Associated Press and mainstream media. Any of us can create professional-looking video or audio in minutes with the new tools available. Statements can be created and offered through X (formally Twitter) or Facebook quickly. Video can be uploaded to multiple platforms. Your state’s emergency management agency can assist.
Lives and the public’s safety could hang in the balance. The possible inaccuracy of today’s general assignment reporters (and the lack of public trust in the media) compels us to engage in options we control while concurrently being accountable through traditional news sources.
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