Local news reports a lot of crime, but people can’t find the crime news they need

People consume a lot of local crime news, but can’t find the news they need, according to one new study just published by Pew Research.

These gaps in coverage provide local newsrooms with an opportunity to expand their readership by adapting their crime reporting.

As part of its Knight Foundation-funded research series on the influence of local news on civic identity, Pew surveyed 5,146 people about where they get their crime news and whether they are satisfied with it.

Respondents told Pew researchers that they get local crime news from two sources: primarily from local news providers, but also from their network of family, friends and neighbors.

While these two sources were by far the predominant methods of obtaining crime news, no dominant source emerged when Pew asked where people turn when they actively seek information about local crime.

Just over 25% of people use local news outlets. And just under 20% said they use search engines, and just as many use social media. Only a handful of people said they rely on local apps like Nextdoor or Ring, and even fewer said they contact local police.

This is a clear opportunity for local newsrooms to fill an unmet need. The fact that no dominant destination for crime information is emerging – despite there being so much crime news in the local news feed – shows that consumers are unable to find the information they are looking for.

What did news consumers want but couldn’t find? Accountability, underlying causes and overall trends.

Eighty-five percent of Pew survey respondents said they wanted to know what local authorities are doing to combat crime, but only 22 percent found it relatively easy to get this information.

And 81% said they were interested in stories about the causes of crime, but only 21% said they could find that information.

Similarly, 77% said they wanted to learn about crime trends, and only 23% could find them easily.

For the past three years, we at Poynter have led editorial teams through a process to change the makeup of their crime coverage so they can better serve their communities. The course is called Transforming crime reporting into public safety journalism. The majority of the 85 newsrooms that completed our course have implemented two improvements: They regularly report on trends and they are committed to explanatory journalism with a focus on public safety.

It was documented above And above that news consumers are often misinformed about crime trends, believing that crime is getting worse even when it is improving. This is because local news is much more likely to be devoted to reporting on specific crimes than to reporting on crime trends. This is especially true when crime is declining.

When newsrooms commit to documenting crime trends on an ongoing basis, they provide audiences with easy access to satisfy their curiosity and find out if crime is rising or falling. However, tracking crime trends takes some effort in the beginning. Because federal data lags by 18 months, journalists must work with local police, scientists and state agencies to obtain more current data. This requires developing a method to collect numbers every month or quarter and then presenting them in an easy-to-understand way.

ABC Action News in Philadelphia has completed our course in 2023. This station retains this Crime Tracker Page and references the data in almost every crime report. Here’s what I like about this site:

• The site tracks the murder rate by neighborhood
• It tracks the raw numbers of murders and the murder rate over time
• It provides an overview of the most common causes of death in Philadelphia

Explanatory reporting often starts with a simple question and leads to public accountability. We encouraged editorial teams to find answers to interesting questions such as:

• How many police officers are deployed in our community? How has this changed over time?
• How has our juvenile justice system developed in recent years? Is the number of children arrested increasing or decreasing?
• Which crimes are the most difficult to solve?

Here are some questions that have inspired some of our most popular public safety accountability reports.

• Why Why are so many children arrested in Rutherford County, Tennessee?
• Why Are there so many police officers in this one small town in Texas?
• How many people get tickets in a small town in Alabama?
• Why Is there no standardized method for reporting heat deaths in Arizona?

The Pew study confirms what every local website editor, news director and social media specialist already knows: that Americans really care about crime news. By paying attention to the nuances of what people are really looking for, newsrooms can deepen their connection with their audience and even expand their reach.

Here are some additional insights and opportunities:

• Three-quarters of Americans regularly talk about crime with their friends and family. When you provide them with journalistic content that explains and trends, they have more material to discuss your newsroom’s work and your company’s marketing team has more material to use to strengthen your brand.
• 28% of 18-29 year olds have posted about crime on social media. Since this age group is the least likely to get news from a traditional local newsroom, creating and sharing informative public safety content on social media is an opportunity for newsrooms to build relationships with this age group.
• Black Americans consume local news more frequently and are more likely to see news stories about violent crime. Covering public safety stories that feature Black community members is likely to lead to stories that examine causes and solutions.

Kirsten Eddy, a senior researcher at Pew, told me that crime is one of the topics people consume most often when seeking local information. And there is a connection between the amount of crime news people absorb and their fear. But it’s not clear whether consuming stories about crime makes people fearful or whether fearful people consume more crime news.

Crime news also evokes strong, negative emotions in news consumers. 79% of respondents said crime news makes them anxious, and 71% said crime news makes them angry. Eddy said she that people are more likely to say they are worried and angry when consuming crime news, and that they are less likely to feel motivated to change things or confident that things will improve.

All of this data about audience attitudes toward local crime news points to a clear strategy for newsroom leaders. You’ll grow your audience and strengthen your news product if you improve your crime coverage. Give people regular stories about crime trends, law enforcement accountability, and insights into causes and solutions, and they’ll come back for more.