The News Media's Coverage of Crime and Victimization
Channel: PublicResourceOrg
Date: 2008-01-21

Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
Office for Victims of Crime

National Victim Assistance Academy

The News Media's Coverage of Crime and Victimization
NCJ 178239

The news media's coverage of crime and victimization provides a necessary and invaluable public service, but can often result in painful re-victimization of the victims involved. This video explores how the news media tend to cover crime and victimization, what can be done to help victims effectively deal with this sometimes insensitive coverage, and how victim service providers can work together with members of the media to promote timely, sensitive media coverage. Nationally renowned victim advocates Anne Seymour, Ellen Levin and Carroll Ellis, along with Colorado State University Journalism Professor Greg Luft and Colorado-Oklahoma Resource Council Co-Director Robin Finegan discuss this critical issue, focusing on serious crimes that have triggered massive media attention, including the 1986 murder of Jennifer Levin, the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City and subsequent trial, and the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. Providing constructive recommendations for media coverage of crime and victimization that is both comprehensive and respectful of victims' vulnerability and needs, this second videotape in the National Victim Assistance Academy (NVAA) series is an invaluable training and teaching tool for victims, victim assistance professionals, journalism students, as well as members of the media. This educational videotape was developed as a component of the 1999 (NVAA) Project, co-sponsored by the Victims' Assistance Legal Organization, California State University-Fresno, the National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center of the Medical University of South Carolina, the Center for the Study of Crime Victims' Rights, Resources, and Remedies of the University of New Haven, and Washburn University. The video was produced and directed by Greg Luft from the University of Colorado, with additional production support from Video Action Fund, Washington, D.C.

"This project was supported by Grant Number 95-MU-GX-K002(S-3) awarded by the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The Assistant Attorney General, Office of Justice Programs coordinates the activities of the following program offices and bureaus: Bureau of justice Assistance, Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Institute of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Deliquency Prevention, and the Office for Victims of Crime. Points of view in this document are those of the author and do no necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice."