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Press Statement
By Hilary O. Shelton
Director, Washington Bureau, NAACP
On "Off Balance: Youth, Race and Crime in the News"
April 10, 2001
On behalf of the NAACP, the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization, I'd like to both congratulate and thank "Building Blocks for Youth," "The Berkeley Media Studies Group" and the "Justice Policy Institute" for this landmark study entitled, "Off Balance: Youth, Race and Crime in the News," providing an in-depth analysis of newspaper and television crime coverage and its role in shaping public opinion.
This new report being presented today, clearly establishes that news coverage of crime, particularly violent crime, is well out of proportion to its occurrence. This ongoing practice by media outlets distorts public perception of youth, particularly ethnic and racial minority young people, by over representing African American youth and others as perpetuators of crime and violence, while under representing them as victims of crime or faithful contributors to the development and well being of the communities in which they live.
This news study exposes the distorted balance of T.V. news coverage in which young people made up only 14% of the arrests for violent crimes; however, they made up 70% of the news stories on violence during that same period. This study become more alarming as we recognize that the number of children and youth that were victims of violence or violent offenses was only 2%.
With homicide coverage by network news increasing by 473% from 1990 to 1998, and homicides actually decreasing by 32.9% during the same time period, it is no wonder that nearly 2/3 of the American public believe youth crime is actually on this rise.
It is also not surprising that twice as many white Americans believe they are more likely to be criminally victimized by racial and ethnic minorities than by other whites, although national crime statistics clearly reveal that, indeed, white Americans are 3 times more likely to be criminally victimized by other whites than by racial minorities.
Since 3/4 of Americans point out that they form their opinions about crime based on what they hear, see or read in the news, it is easier to understand why some lawmakers would be pressing for more severe criminal justice measures against children even though the actual juvenile crime rate is decreasing.
As a nation, we must find comprehensive strategies to help provide a greater sense of balance in the portrayal of all racial groups, ethnic groups, and generations by the media and particularly by news groups that are both expected and perceived to present a balanced reflection of the events of our day.
This is also why the NAACP has worked so hard over its 92-year history to see to it that all Americans are fairly and accurately represented by our national media. This is why the NAACP boycotted the film, "Birth of a Nation" decades ago; This is why NAACP President, Kwesi Mfume has been negotiating so diligently with television network executives to bring an accurate depiction of Americans to the most influential medium in history; This is why the NAACP has been working so closely with legislators like Congressman Engle of New York to craft legislation to create a clearinghouse in the Federal Communications Commission to continuously gather and disaggregate the kind of data released in this new, "Building Blocks for Youth" report. This new clearinghouse will be used to consistently educate the public and the news outlets on how well they are doing in presenting and receiving a fair and accurate portrayal of youth and ethnic minorities in the media.
Again, I would thank Mark Soler, Marc Schindler, Vinny Schiraldi, Lori Dorfman, Robert Entman, Frank Gilliam and the many other researchers with "Building Blocks for Youth" for the contributions they have made in compiling this very important new report.
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