Journal Article

Prime Suspects: The Influence of Local Television News on the Viewing Public

Gilliam, Franklin D., Iyengar, Shanto

2000

Overview

Local television news is the public's primary source of public affairs information. News stories about crime dominate local news programming because they meet the demand for \"action news.\" The prevalence of this type of reporting has led to a crime narrative or \"script\" that includes two core elements: crime is violent and perpetrators of crime are non-white males. We show that this script has become an ingrained heuristic for understanding crime and race. Using a multi-method design, we assess the impact of the crime script on the viewing public. Our central finding is that exposure to the racial element of the crime script increases support for punitive approaches to crime and heightens negative attitudes about African-Americans among white, but not black, viewers. In closing, we consider the implications of our results for intergroup relations, electoral politics, and the practice of journalism.

• Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press,University of Texas Press for Midwest Political Science Association, etc,Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subject: African Americans / Attitudes / Broadcast journalism / Broadcasting / California / Crime / Crime and criminals / Crime fiction / Crime impact / Crime news / Criminal justice / Fear of crime / Government and politics / Journalism / Local media / Los Angeles, California / Mass Media Effects / Mass Media Images / Media / Media coverage / News / News content / News Coverage / News media / Offenders / Politics / Public opinion / Race / Race relations / Racism / Social aspects / Social Attitudes / Social conditions / Television / Television news / Television viewers / Television Viewing / U.S.A / United States / Violence / Violent crime / Violent crimes / Whites