Running head: RACE AND CRIME 1 RACE AND CRIME 8 Race and Crime Why Racialization of Crime in the United States News Media is Dangerous and should be stopped Introduction and Current Failings The United States news media plays a massive role in informing and educating the public not only on political issues but also on social issues like crime. Since the inauguration of President Donald Trump in 2016, he has succeeded in using fear as his political weapon (Evers, Fisher & Schaaf, 2019). One of the things that stand out in his presidency is the dishonest claim that the rates of crime have gone up, despite the national trends on violent crimes going down significantly. Trump’s fear-mongering, which seems to be working, has permitted the news media with the Center for American Progress and GBA Strategies reporting that 88 percent of Americans regard crime on the national level as a major issue and that of immediate crisis (Adamson, 2017). Whether through well-intended intentions or not, the news media are amplifying the national-level fear through constant reporting on Donald Trump, crime and how it has been racialized. Since the perception of national crime is an abstract concept to the ordinary citizens, the news media has likely been playing an out sized role in shaping the imagination of the public (Douai & Perry, 2018). Needless to say, the news media not only contributes towards the overestimation of crime statistics by members of the public through its reporting on the president’s fear-mongering and controversies but it also over reports on violent crimes, which feed destructive ethnic and racial biases about the people responsible. African American men are often over-represented as the major perpetrators of violent crimes in the United States media (Zack, 2015). For instance, one survey of late-night news outlets in the city of New York established in 2014 that the media reported on violent crimes like assault, theft and murder in which black men and women were suspects at a rate that was far higher than the actual arrest rates for the same mentioned crimes (Adamson, 2017). The study also found out that black people are vilified by the news media by presenting black crime suspects as more dangerous and threatening than those from other dominant races like the whites. The vilification is done by displaying the mug shots of African American suspects more frequently than those from the white community; depicting African American suspects in police cells more frequently; and paying deeper attention to criminal cases where the victims are strangers (Zack, 2015). Further, the news media has also played a part in worsening the racial differences and tensions between the white people and the blacks by particularly perpetuating and spread ...

1. Running head: RACE AND CRIME
1
RACE AND CRIME
8
Race and Crime
Why Racialization of Crime in the United States News Media is
Dangerous and should be stopped
Introduction and Current Failings
The United States news media plays a massive role in informing
and educating the public not only on political issues but also on
social issues like crime. Since the inauguration of President
Donald Trump in 2016, he has succeeded in using fear as his
political weapon (Evers, Fisher & Schaaf, 2019). One of the
things that stand out in his presidency is the dishonest claim
that the rates of crime have gone up, despite the national trends
on violent crimes going down significantly. Trump’s fear-
mongering, which seems to be working, has permitted the news
media with the Center for American Progress and GBA
Strategies reporting that 88 percent of Americans regard crime
on the national level as a major issue and that of immediate
crisis (Adamson, 2017).
Whether through well-intended intentions or not, the news
media are amplifying the national-level fear through constant
reporting on Donald Trump, crime and how it has been
racialized. Since the perception of national crime is an abstract
concept to the ordinary citizens, the news media has likely been
playing an out sized role in shaping the imagination of the
public (Douai & Perry, 2018). Needless to say, the news media
not only contributes towards the overestimation of crime

2. statistics by members of the public through its reporting on the
president’s fear-mongering and controversies but it also over
reports on violent crimes, which feed destructive ethnic and
racial biases about the people responsible.
African American men are often over-represented as the major
perpetrators of violent crimes in the United States media (Zack,
2015). For instance, one survey of late-night news outlets in the
city of New York established in 2014 that the media reported on
violent crimes like assault, theft and murder in which black men
and women were suspects at a rate that was far higher than the
actual arrest rates for the same mentioned crimes (Adamson,
2017). The study also found out that black people are vilified by
the news media by presenting black crime suspects as more
dangerous and threatening than those from other dominant races
like the whites.
The vilification is done by displaying the mug shots of African
American suspects more frequently than those from the white
community; depicting African American suspects in police cells
more frequently; and paying deeper attention to criminal cases
where the victims are strangers (Zack, 2015). Further, the news
media has also played a part in worsening the racial differences
and tensions between the white people and the blacks by
particularly perpetuating and spreading a narrative of white
victimization (Leopold & Bell, 2017). Homicide is a largely
interracial crime, but it is often over-reported by the news
media in cases where the blacks are involved as perpetrators
and not victims.
In addition to African Americans, the Latinos have also been
maligned greatly in the mainstream news media especially on
immigration. The Latinos have always been presented as
criminals and outsiders who come into the United States to
break the law and wreak havoc (Barber, 2018). Donald Trump
has said several times how Latinos are “bad people” who are

3. likely to peddle drugs, break the law and cause problems in the
United States if allowed to come into the country (Burnside &
Fletcher, 2017).
Proposed Changes
Firstly, there is a need to address the racialization of crime in
institutions in the United States. Most importantly, the
American criminal justice system should be cleansed from
racialization of crime because its failings are being reflected in
the news media and opinions of the people. Policy changes
should start from the criminal justice system in the United
States. Secondly, there should be policy formulation which
limits the news media on coverage of crime news especially
when racial issues are involved. The American news media
should be sensitive to the mood of the country.
Continuing to highlight certain minority groups as being “more
criminal” or more likely to execute criminal activities does not
help in addressing the issue of racial profiling at it relates to
criminal activities. The media should help reduce the problems
of racial profiling and stereotyping based on crime by reporting
factually and not based on institutional biases that have affected
the country for the longest time.
Thirdly, there is a need to address the structural barriers to
success that minority communities face as a way of reducing
instances of crime and associating race with it. Studies have
shown that black people, for instance, are likely to have more
structural barriers to success than their white counterparts and
hence can easily be linked to the crime.
Justification for the Proposed Changes
Biased perceptions of crime based on race have also stemmed
from the criminal justice system. It has been shown that African
American suspects or defendants are 3.9 times more likely to be
handed the death penalty than defendants from other

4. communities who may have committed the same murders
(Egharevba, 2016). The racialized perceptions of crime have
played out in several American courts too. For instance, for
similar crimes, male African Americans are likely to receive
sentences or punishment, on average, which are 19.1 percent
more severe or longer than offenders from the white community
(Okada, Maguire & Sardina, 2018).
It, therefore, shows that the racialization that has been
perpetuated by the news media comes from the institutions and
systems that Americans have fought so hard for so long to
perfect. Reducing biases and prejudices in the criminal justice
system will ensure that all races are treated equally in courts
and the correctional facilities (Okada, Maguire & Sardina,
2018). When the news media cover stories of how the criminal
justice system treats people equally regardless of race and
ethnic group, the racialization of crime will eventually go down
and people will start looking at each case independently and
factually.
The news media should not be controlled or ganged in its
reporting. However, policies should be put in place to ensure
that all races are covered equally especially on issues that touch
on crime (Zack, 2015). The same way a mug shot of a black man
would be displayed during 9 o’clock news should apply to
people from other races. The news media shapes and affects
public opinion. According to a study by the National Hispanic
Media Coalition, negative media portrayals fuel stereotypes
about Latinos, immigrants and other minority ethnic groups
(King, Schneer & White, 2017).
The study established that people who consume just 60 seconds
of negative entertainment or news on Latinos or other minority
groups are much more likely to hate these ethnic groups.
Similar studies have shown that people who view Fox News and
similar other conservative talk shows are more likely to hate or

5. have negative views of these minority ethnic groups, especially
the Latinos. The outcome is the criminalization of minority
communities and negative views on immigration that has
contributed to the common zero-tolerance policies that have not
only proved to be ineffective but also disastrous. There is a
need to re-look at the country’s immigration policy and how
issues of crime are handled in the news media.
Conclusion
The US news media plays an important role in educating people
and shaping public opinion. Purposefully or not, the media has
found itself in an unfortunate situation where it often spreads
both racial and fears prejudice, which has been used by
politicians and policymakers to push through agendas that harm
minority ethnic groups like the blacks and Latinos. Under the
current administration, it is particularly significant that the
news media look past its internal biases and prejudices and stay
away from giving unnecessary publicity to unfounded claims. It
is only when institutions, policymakers and Americans have
correct and accurate information on a crime that the country can
work towards instituting fair policies in the criminal justice
system to reduce and prevent crime.
References
Adamson, B. (2017). Reconsidering Pre-Indictment Publicity:
Racialized Crime News, Grand Juries and Tamir Rice. Ala. CR
& CLL Rev., 8, 1.
Barber, J. (2018). The Racialized Stereotype of a Criminal as
presented within Television Newscasts.
Burnside, R., & Fletcher, M. (2017, November). We've Been
Trumped!: Donald Trump and the Return of Racism in Post-
Racial America. In 2018 National Conference of Black Political
Scientists (NCOBPS) Annual Meeting.

6. Douai, A., & Perry, B. (2018). A Different Lens? How Ethnic
Minority Media Cover Crime. Canadian Journal of Criminology
and Criminal Justice, 60(1), 96-121.
Egharevba, S. (Ed.). (2016). Police Brutality, Racial Profiling,
and Discrimination in the Criminal Justice System. IGI Global.
Evers, M. M., Fisher, A., & Schaaf, S. D. (2019). Is There a
Trump Effect? An Experiment on Political Polarization and
Audience Costs. Perspectives on Politics, 17(2), 433-452.
King, G., Schneer, B., & White, A. (2017). How the news media
activate public expression and influence national
agendas. Science, 358(6364), 776-780.
Leopold, J., & Bell, M. P. (2017). News media and the
racialization of protest: an analysis of Black Lives Matter
articles. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International
Journal, 36(8), 720-735.
Okada, D., Maguire, M., & Sardina, A. (Eds.). (2019). Critical
Issues in Crime and Justice: Thought, Policy, and Practice.
SAGE Publications.
Zack, N. (2015). White Privilege and black rights: The injustice
of us police racial profiling and homicide. Rowman &
Littlefield.