THE EARLY SHOW (7:00 AM ET)
April 10, 2001, Tuesday
HEADLINE: STUDY SHOWS YOUTH VIOLENCE DOWN SHARPLY, BLAMES MEDIA HYPE FOR PUBLIC MISCONCEPTIONS
ANCHORS: DIANA OLICK
Given the recent news headlines, one would think America's kids are getting increasingly violent. In fact, 62 percent of Americans think youth violence is on the rise, but the truth is, they're wrong.
It's pretty easy to get the wrong impression.
(Excerpt from April 19, 1999 news broadcast)
OLICK: And millions of Americans do.
Mr. VINCENT SCHIRALDI (Justice Policy Institute): There's a one in three million chance of being killed in a school. But 71 percent of respondents to a Wall Street Journal poll believe a school shooting is likely in their school. That's not sort of marginally misinformed. That's profoundly, exponentially misinformed.
OLICK: That poll is one of 70 analyses of newspaper and television crime coverage compiled for a new study called Off Balance. It found that media coverage of youth violence is just that.
Mr. SCHIRALDI: We're not trying to say you shouldn't have covered the shooting at Columbine. On the other hand, I think it's certainly part of the news story for Americans to know that there was a 72 percent decline in school killings between 1992 and 1999.
OLICK: The study found that from 1990 to '98, homicides in this country decreased by 33 percent. But homicide coverage on network news increased by 473 percent.
(Graphic on screen)
Youth, Race & Crime in the News 1990 to 1998
HOMICIDE down 33%
HOMICIDE COVERAGE ON up 473% NETWORK NEWS
Source: Justice Policy Institute
Ms. BARBARA COCHRAN (Radio & Television News Directors Association): The thing about news is that it is a depiction of the unusual. And so the fact that the stories about crime that are told on the news are unusual shouldn't surprise anyone.
Ms. SCHAQUESHA ALEQUIN (19-Year-Old): Hello.
OLICK: Still, 19-year-old Schaquesha Alequin is tired of the hype.
Ms. ALEQUIN: Enough to deal with walking down the street with my friends, and the cops slow down, you know, stuff like that, when I didn't do anything.
OLICK: The media hype has also affected public policy. Since 1992, 47 states have made it easier to try youths as adults.
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