The likelihood of a newspaper mentioning a murderer's race depends on the murderer's race.
"White offenders' race was mentioned in roughly 1 out of every 4 articles, compared with 1 in 17 articles about a black offender and 1 in 33 articles about a Hispanic offender." pic.twitter.com/OkS6ZSHLcs
— The Rabbit Hole (@TheRabbitHole84) March 12, 2024
When we include suspect descriptions in our reporting, and when we don’t
On the News 5 website we publish specific descriptions, with identifying details, when alerting the public to potential danger, when helping to locate a missing person and when police ask for the public’s help in the apprehension of an individual.
If a description is vague, and it could literally describe thousands or millions of people, we don’t share it.
What is a specific description? It would include identifying factors such as tattoos and scars, as well as clothes, type of vehicle, etc.
Let’s say a significant volume of our stories describe possible criminals as “white women with brown hair.” After a while, some readers might come to believe that white women with brown hair as a group represent a personal or societal threat.
When a news organization offers only racial and gender identifiers as part of its news reports for years, or decades, what is the more likely outcome: that these extremely vague descriptions will better inform the public, or that we will be a party to unintentionally perpetuating stereotypes?
I can hear some of you now. “You’re keeping information from the public!” Incorrect. We’re simply not sharing it. That information is still available.
If you’re really dying to know whether or not a suspected criminal was black or white, and this particular crime does not affect you in any possible way, instead of asking yourself what someone looks like, please stop and consider why you need to know at all.
www.news5cleveland.com/about-us/news-literacy/when-we-include-suspect-descriptions-in-our-reporting-and-when-we-dont
h/t LSR