The portrayal of race and crime on television network news

Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, Dec, 2003 by Travis L. Dixon, Cristina L. Azocar, Michael Casas

Despite these potential biases, these reports are used for four reasons. First, the only government information that was available regarding the race of perpetrators was arrest rate. Second, there is no evidence to suggest that viewers make meaningful distinctions between perpetrators who are accused and sought for a crime versus those who have been arrested for law-breaking. Third, viewers exposed to repeated criminals should have cognitive associations between racial groups and crime roles reinforced in a similar fashion to viewers exposed to multiple distinct criminals (Fiske & Taylor, 1991). Fourth, public officials and other agencies use these reports to develop policy responses to criminal activity.

Definition of perpetrator and victim race. To compare the race of perpetrators and victims portrayed on television news with the race of individuals noted in crime reports, the categories and definitions used by the U.S. Department of Justice were employed in this study. Race originally included four categories: African Americans, Whites, Asians, and Native Americans. However, because Native Americans and Asians make up less than 2% of the arrests and television portrayals combined, and because some U.S. Department of Justice reports do not include Native American and Asian categories, race was re-classified as three categories: African Americans, Whites, and others. (3)

Identification of race. The following apparent race indicators were used to assess the race of perpetrators and victims: 1) shown on videotape, 2) mug shot shown, 3) artist's sketch shown, 4) photo shown, and 5) race is stated. When these more apparent indicators of race were not available, race was inferred based on characteristics of the story. Three variables were used: 1) surname (e.g., Yuko is associated with Asian), 2) family member is shown (e.g., White mother implies White perpetrator), and 3) prior news reports indicate race (e.g., school shooter identified in prior news reports as White). (4)

Coders used apparent race indicators when they were available to identify race. Otherwise, coders used inferred characteristics in tandem with apparent race indicators. Coders were trained to rely on inferred characteristics only when they could clearly distinguish between African Americans, Whites, and others. For instance, in the absence of an apparent race indicator, an Asian surname would indicate someone of Asian descent (e.g., "other") and would hence help distinguish between African Americans, Whites, and others (e.g., Asians). However, an English surname would not adequately distinguish between African Americans and Whites, and could therefore not be used as a lone indicator to identify race.

Coding multiple perpetrators. In most cases, coders assessed the individual characteristics of each suspect clearly identified in a crime story, whether the perpetrator acted alone or in tandem with others. In these cases, each individual character, whether African American, White, or other was included in the tally of perpetrators for his or her corresponding racial group. When multiple unidentified or unknown suspects were included in a newscast, coders recorded the racial groups present and estimated the number of each group present. For example, if videotape suggested that there was a gang rape of a youth and four (2 African American and 2 White) unidentified suspected rapists were described by the crime story, the offenders would be coded as both African American and White. In cases where no clear number was given but coders could detect that multiple characters were involved, a conservative number of characters were counted. For example, if there was a gang rape by the African American "LA Crips" youth gang without a clear identification of specific suspects, then coders would identify two African Americans as the suspects. Two is a conservative number because more than two could have been present, but all the coders know in this case is that at least two participated.