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Police Shootings in Black and White: Exploring Newspaper Coverage of Officer-Involved Shootings

The Politics of Policing: Between Force and Legitimacy

ISBN: 978-1-78635-030-5, eISBN: 978-1-78635-029-9

Publication date: 10 June 2016

Abstract

Purpose

This study set out to advance knowledge on the reporting of police shootings in print media. Media is the main source of information on criminal justice issues for most citizens. Thus, understanding the presentation of police-involved shooting incidents is important for determining the manner in which media might shape the opinions of readers.

Methodology/approach

The current study content analyzed relevant newspaper articles gathered from a large database of journalistic documents compiled by Lexis Nexis. Articles pertaining to police shootings published between January 1, 2014 and April 30, 2015, were identified and coded to document various dimensions of how these encounters are portrayed in print media.

Findings

Results indicate that explicit racialization of the stories was limited, which is contrary to what was expected. Neither the race of the suspect or officer was mentioned in most stories, making it difficult to assess explicit reporting bias of these incidents. However, results indicate that implicit bias might play a role in shaping the content portrayed in print news accounts of police-involved shootings.

Originality/value

The current study represents one of the first – if not the first – content analysis of news stories centered on police-involved shootings. Given the significant role media plays in delivering information about crime and justice topics to the citizenry, a working knowledge about the media’s portrayal of these events is important for understanding how media consumption may shape citizens’ opinions about police-involved shootings.

Keywords

Citation

Klahm, C.F., Papp, J. and Rubino, L. (2016), "Police Shootings in Black and White: Exploring Newspaper Coverage of Officer-Involved Shootings", The Politics of Policing: Between Force and Legitimacy (Sociology of Crime, Law and Deviance, Vol. 21), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 197-217. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1521-613620160000021011

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2016 Emerald Group Publishing Limited