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Youth and violence on local television news in California

Author

Listed:
  • Dorfman, L.
  • Woodruff, K.
  • Chavez, V.
  • Wallack, L.

Abstract

Objectives. This study explores how local television news structures the public and policy debate on youth violence. Methods. A content analysis was performed on 214 hours of local television news from California. Each of the 1791 stories concerning youth, violence, or both was coded and analyzed for whether it included a public health perspective. Results. There were five key findings. First, violence dominated local television news coverage. Second, the specifics of particular crimes dominated coverage of violence. Third, over half of the stories on youth involved violence, while more than two thirds of the violence stories concerned youth. Fourth, episodic coverage of violence was more than five times more frequent than thematic coverage, which included links to broader social factors. Finally, only one story had an explicit public health frame. Conclusions. Local television news provides extremely limited coverage of contributing etiological factors in stories on violence. If our nation's most popular source of news continues to report on violence primarily through crime stories isolated from their social context, the chance for widespread support for public health solutions to violence will be diminished.

Suggested Citation

  • Dorfman, L. & Woodruff, K. & Chavez, V. & Wallack, L., 1997. "Youth and violence on local television news in California," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 87(8), pages 1311-1316.
    • Handle: RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:1997:87:8:1311-1316_1
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    Cited by:

    1. Coalition for America's Children with the Benton Foundation, 1999. "The Influence of Local Television News Frames on Attitudes about Childcare: An Evaluation Report to the Benton Foundation," Institute for Social Science Research, Working Paper Series qt4114z5vp, Institute for Social Science Research, UCLA.

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