Almost a quarter century ago, I was enrolled in my first undergraduate course on victimization as a criminal justice major. At the time, the recent Columbine High School mass shooting loomed large in the minds of many Americans. Talking heads on cable news speculated that first-person shooter video games, violence in movies, or even music caused the shooters’ violent behavior. Fear of school shootings haunts many Americans to this day.
How does media shape perceptions of crime in the U.S.? Does exposure to violence in media cause violent crime?
Since the 1980s, 24-hour news channels have broadcast continuous news coverage into our homes. In pursuit of profit, mass media news features violent crimes and crimes involving high-profile people ad nauseum until the next major story emerges. Uncommon violent crimes, like mass shootings, receive disproportionate coverage. The result is exaggerated perceptions of violent crime.
Similarly, social media disproportionately highlights violent crimes. Social media offers immediate information and misinformation on crimes, but this news is light on details, offers limited context, and is typically not fact checked. Social media is now the primary news source for many Americans.
Criminologists find that mass and social media coverage of crime, especially violent crimes between strangers, entrenches the perception that rampant societal violence is endemic to the U.S. As a result, Americans have distorted perceptions of crime and elevated fear of crime.
The media we consume colors our understandings of the criminal justice system, what we deem to be appropriate responses to crime, and the crime legislation that we endorse. One’s preferred cable news network shapes whether you support “defunding the police” or “deporting criminal illegals.”
Media coverage of crime shapes our laws, especially if these events align with the political currents of the day. Politicians have long sought to gain favor with voters by “getting tough on crime.” Certain crimes receive a lot of media coverage, including the tragic murders of Ahmaud Arbery and Laken Riley. These were uncommon, outlier crimes that got a lot of media coverage and resulted in legislation. Arbery’s murder became a catalyst for Georgia’s hate crime laws. Riley’s murder resulted in the Laken Riley Act, mandating detention of non-U.S. nationals for certain crimes.
Is media criminogenic? Does exposure to violence in media or news coverage of crime cause criminal behavior? Criminological research finds that there is no clear-cut relationship between exposure to violence in media and committing crime. However, there is a correlation between exposure to media violence and violent behavior. Some individuals copy crimes that they see in media. It is possible that the same social influences, motivations, or personality attributes that lead one to commit crime also lead one to seek out violent media. There are many intervening variables that shape criminality. In sum, there is no clear causal relationship between media and crime.
Media coverage of crime, including news of local events and sensationalized cases, shapes our perception of crime rates and fear of crime. News coverage can lead to moral panics and excessive or reactive responses from the public and government.
Individuals can be mindful of how mass media and social media exposure shapes our own perceptions of crime, the criminal justice system, and appropriate legislation. Confronting facts about crime allow us to temper exaggerated fears of crime and advocate for effective public policy. Both violent and property crime rates in the U.S. are way down since peaking in the 1990s. Murder rates in the U.S. have plummeted for three years in a row and the U.S. might record the lowest number of per-capita killings on record in 2025. Immigrants, including undocumented immigrants, have lower rates of arrest and incarceration compared to native-born citizens. Unfortunately, hate crimes are on the rise in the U.S. in recent years. Criminal justice agencies and our elected officials should develop crime policy that is informed by empirical facts—not media-induced fear of crime or moral panics.
Roscoe Scarborough, Ph.D. is chair of the Department of Social Sciences and associate professor of sociology at College of Coastal Georgia. He is an associate scholar at the Reg Murphy Center for Economic and Policy Studies. He can be reached by email at rscarborough@ccga.edu.
Reg Murphy Center