An in-depth study of violent crime news reveals remarkable disparity between what we see on the news, how we understand our communities, and the facts on the ground. This disparity leads the City of Angels to despair, when we could be celebrating and hopefully, fearlessly working to be a city free of violence.

1. +
Breaking News:
LA Is Peaceful, Vibrant
Inspiring Non-Violence: Building a Peaceful, Vibrant LA
Non-Violence No Higher Calling – LA Launch Event
Danielle Killian, Killian Communications
Wednesday, March 27, 2013

2. + Fair Use Notice
Our world may be safer than it appears.
This presentation contains copyrighted material the
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understanding of news programing critical to
understanding the health of our democracy. We
believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such
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U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is
distributed without profit to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
information for research and educational purposes.
Now that that is out of the way…

3. + In 2011, we set out to better understand our public
conversation about violence, turning where we all turn
for information about our communities.
National Broadcast Local Broadcast Syndicated Radio
California Radio Print and Online Print Online Resources

4. + There were quite a few events described as violent in
the news at that time…
“I’ve never seen so much truly
newsworthy news in my entire
career…” Bob Schieffer,
Face the Nation
Casey
Anthony
Dominique
Strauss Kahn
Oslo
EU Austerity
Protests
Bryan Stow
Joplin and Irene
EQ/Nukes
in Japan
Tucson
Arab Wisconsin Union
Protests
Debt
Spring
Supreme Court on
Ceilin
Stock market fluctuations CA Prisons
Budget Crises

5. + So, we narrowed ourselves to in-depth review of 1000
randomly selected stories about physical violence in
the US, working to mirror the way California voters
consume news.
Six California
National Broadcast Syndicated Radio
Broadcast DMAs
California Radio Print and Online Print Online Resources

6. +  Prominence: How visible is the story? Top of the
fold, breaking news… The more “in our face” it is, the
more important it seems.
 Tempo: How many stories are there about violence?
Or a particular type of violence? When we hear
something with great frequency, it feels important.
 Visuals: Not only do visuals catch our attention,
they help us remember stories.
 Frames: Frames give context to messages and
Agenda Setting information. We understand the Oslo massacre
differently when it is equated to Oklahoma City than
We watched, listened and read a little when it is likened to 911.
differently than we would on a day-to-
day basis. We were looking for signs
 Messages: What is usually said on the topic? What
of agenda setting… trends that would is the range of conversation between those labeled
indicate the media we consume is as “left” and “right?”
teaching us that some types of
violence are of greater concern than  Status Conferral: Who gets interviewed? Who is
others. quoted? Who is just paraphrased or interrupted?
These trends provide subtle cues as to who is a
preferred expert.
Blah, blah, blah, right?!

7. + Analyzing broadcast news was a
challenge…Most “messages” came in
the form of images:
Where Where Where Where What What Who
To To
What Where What What Result
Whom Whom
To
Result Who Who Who Result Result
Whom
Result Where Who Where
Sometimes the images flashed so fast,
it could take 30-45 minutes to capture all the information
in a 30-second clip!

8. There are some images
+
that will never fade from
our memories.

9. + The tempo of stories gave us a feeling about whether crime was
increasing or decreasing… but no data was
available to act as the Doppler Radar for this safety forecast.
Ten 15-Second Stories
Where Result Where Where
To
Whom 5 30-Second Stories
Where What What Result Who
Where What What
To
What Who Where What
Whom
To
What Result
To To
Whom
What Result Result
Whom Whom
Who Who Who Result Result
Who Result Result
Result Where Who Where Who
Longer stories with fewer
images gave us less tension
Lots of stories and images gave us and made us think crime must
tension and made us think crime must be decreasing.
be increasing.

10. + We weren’t alone in sensing an increase.
Most Angelinos, surveyed shortly after the FBI
released crime statistics, did not feel safe.
Compared to 20 years ago, is the In the last 20 years, [has CRIME]
City of Los Angeles SAFER, not gotten better, worse, or stayed the
as safe, or about the same? same?
 38% – Safer  33% – Better
 27% – About the Same  28% – Stayed the Same
 30% – Not as Safe  34% – Worse
 5% – Don’t Know/Refused  5% – Don’t Know/Refused
Source: 20th Anniversary of the Los Angeles Riots Survey. 2012. Center for the Study of Los Angeles, Loyola Marymount University.

11. + Our read inverted the truth.
Violent Crime in Los Angeles, 2010-1989
All Violent Crimes Homicide Forcible Rape Robbery Aggravated Assault
2000
1800
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989
Based Upon Data from LA Almanac: http://www.laalmanac.com/crime/cr02.htm

12. +
Let’s get it straight. Even that flat
line of homicides is deceptive.
Violent Crime in Los Angeles, 1989-2010
All Violent Crimes Homicide Forcible Rape Robbery Aggravated Assault
2000
1800
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Based Upon Data from LA Almanac: http://www.laalmanac.com/crime/cr02.htm

13. Los Angeles 1992
1092 Homicides
So much has
2.99/Day changed…
Population: 8,863,164
Your Odds: 1 in 8116.45
Los Angeles 2012
298 Homicides
0.82/Day
Population: 9,962,789
Your Odds: 1 in 33,432.18

14. +
How do you read these headlines now?
Deadliest year in decades. Overall crime down 2 percent in LA during 2012;
murders, petty thefts up slightly. Crime rate in Los Angeles falls for 10th
straight year, making it the safest big city in America, but cell phone thefts
are way up.

15. + We don’t know things get better because, as
the world changes, the news stays the same.
International Wars
National Violence
International Violence
National Violence
California Violence
California Violence
Violence in LA
Violence in LA
News News
Violence and News Circa 1992 Violence and News Circa 2012

16. We despair for lack of
TRUTH.
When was our first homicide-free day?
We think violence is intractable…
How long have we gone without a murder?
Why aren’t we PROUD?
Why aren’t we celebrating???
Why aren’t we celebrated?

17. The TRUTH is full of
HOPE.
bigger population. We are
We have a
more diverse. We are younger.
Our neighborhoods are more
integrated. We are enduring high
unemployment.
Still…
WE ARE SAFER, LA.

18. +
Yes, we still need to
improve.
We will still mourn.
We will still regret.
We will still disagree.

19. …why can’t our path forward be paved
with hope?

20. +
We can win.
There are millions of things you and I can do right now to prevent violence from ever
happening. Help a kid get a drivers license. It can make him less susceptible to joining a gang.
Stand up to a bully. Adult and peer support stops bullies in their tracks. Learn or teach
financial literacy. Violence is correlated with financial stress. Offer an ear without judgment. Mass
shooters leak their plans. plant a
Be the adult or friend they tell. Trim a bush, mow a lawn,
tree. Maintained spaces and tree canopies can repel crime and add calm. Include. Many
who hurt themselves or others feel rejected. Meditate. The ability to place 5 seconds between
heartbreak or a perceived offense and the reaction prevents violence from suicide to murder.
Celebrate. We are winning. Let’s turn homicide free days into violence
free years.

21. + We won’t learn from
watching…
There are millions of things you and I can do right now to prevent violence from ever happening. Help a
kidget a drivers license Stand up
. It can make him less susceptible to joining a gang. to
a bully. Adult and peer support stops bullies in their tracks. Learn or teach financial literacy. Violence is
correlated with financial stress. Offer an ear without judgment. Mass shooters leak their plans. Be the
adult or friend they tell. Trim a bush, mow a lawn, plant a tree. Maintained spaces and tree
canopies can repel crime and add calm. Include. Many who hurt themselves or others feel
rejected. Meditate. The ability to place 5 seconds between heartbreak or a perceived offense and our
reaction prevents violence from suicide to murder. Celebrate. We are winning. Let’s turn
We won’t learn
homicide free days into violence free years.
from the news. Learn at
NonVio.org.