Media coverage could skew perceptions

If perception is reality, then crime in Columbia is rampant.

Tribune file photo

Boone County sheriff’s officers photograph a crime scene where one victim was shot July 23, 2010, at the Boone County Fairgrounds. Multiple shots were fired, and one victim was taken to University Hospital after suffering a gunshot wound to the buttocks. Witnesses on the scene reported a group of 10 to 15 individuals involved in a fight, which led to the gun shots being fired.

That's what many residents — and some in Columbia's neighboring counties — believe.

Whether they rarely visit Columbia or call it home, people's opinions of life here are, at times, shaped by those who say they can be trusted the most. Local media outlets give readers and viewers the stories they think are most worthy of attention. But coverage styles differ, as do perceptions about Columbia's crime rates.

Soon after his election in 2010, Mayor Bob McDavid remembers being approached by two participants at a Central Missouri mayors' conference. The pair of small-town leaders said they perceived Columbia as a dangerous city; they had seen persistent media reports of burglaries, robberies, thefts and assaults. They asked McDavid how the situation got so bad.

"Are they seeing bigger-city problems they don't see in their smaller towns? I don't know," McDavid said. "But when it's your community they are talking about, you start looking for answers."

Crime in Columbia increased by 10.4 percent between 2001 and 2010 — not a significant spike when considering the city's population grew 28.4 percent and the economy tanked.

Crime rose again last year, mostly in terms of thefts and larcenies. That's partly because Columbia is a retail hub, attracting would-be shoplifters from surrounding communities, Columbia police Chief Ken Burton said. But violent crimes last year totaled 417 reported incidents, down from the 2007 peak, when 476 incidents were reported.

A recent string of gunfire incidents put residents on alert, but Burton stressed only a handful of residents were responsible for the stir.

While eating at Kentucky Fried Chicken with his son recently, David Petersheim said he couldn't help but wonder how safe they were across the street from the Chucky E. Cheese's restaurant where shots were fired last month.

He typically doesn't think about crime until he watches the news or reads reports about robberies and shootings — then his guard goes up.

Media influence his perception of crime in Columbia, he said, though he's not sure why.

"I know they blow everything the crap out of proportion," he said. "That's the weird part."

Kevin Roberts moved from Columbia to Ashland three years ago and is happy to make the drive. He said he's like many Ashland residents who enjoy their small town because it feels safe.

"I leave my doors unlocked during two-week vacations," he said. "You can't do that in Columbia."

Columbia is a small and oversaturated media market because of the multiple news stations, newspapers, radio stations and hundreds of University of Missouri journalism students requesting interviews as class assignments, Burton said.

"Our citizens are bombarded with it," Burton said, referring to crime coverage. "It tends to make them think it's a crime wave."

The coverage might be to blame for Columbia's lower-than-average satisfaction with police protection. About 69 percent of residents surveyed last year were satisfied with the protection Columbia police provide — 6 percent lower than the Missouri average and 4 percent lower than the national average.

McDavid said he was alarmed when he met recently with the president of the MU Student Association, who was worried about burglaries around East Campus. Students might hear about an incident in their neighborhoods, but when they're reminded of crime every time it's reported, McDavid fears the city could get a bad reputation among families of MU students.

"It's extremely important that students feel safe and parents feel safe when they send their kids here," he said. "If a student representative feels it's important enough to bring to my attention, I'm concerned."

In newsrooms across the country, editors and directors meet every day to determine what events deserve the attention of readers and viewers. Decisions to place stories on the front page of a newspaper or at the top of a broadcast hour are weighed differently at each news organization, said Stephanie Craft, an associate journalism professor at MU.

"It's well-established that the stories the media highlight set the agenda for public opinion," she said. "When you poll the public, the response is the content analysis of what the media tells you."

Couch potatoes are more at risk of perceiving the world as a violent place, Craft said. It's called the "mean world syndrome," a phenomenon in which violence-related media content convinces viewers the world is more dangerous than it is.

If TV can influence people's fashion decisions and what they buy at the grocery store, it also can influence how they view downtown Columbia after a broadcast about a shooting, Craft said.

An International Communication Association study in 2003 warned that local news broadcasts rely heavily on sensational coverage of crime and other mayhem, and that coverage increases fears. But crime-oriented coverage also finds success among viewers. And when that happens, it's hard to argue broadcasters shouldn't give people what they want, Craft said.

That's why she hesitates to point the finger solely at media.

"Their operation makes financial sense," she said. "People choose to watch it. They bear some of the responsibility, too. People should be literate about media and know how news is made."

The old slogan "if it bleeds, it leads" isn't always applicable: Political, community and government stories draw priority, too.

In the Central Missouri TV market — where KOMU, KMIZ and KRCG compete — a good school or government story about taxes fares just as well, said Stacey Woelfel, KOMU's news director.

"If it's unusual or shocking enough, we'll lead with it," he said.

Woelfel used the Steven Rios case as an example of a crime story shocking enough to merit major coverage. Rios was a former Columbia police officer convicted in 2008 of murdering a 23-year-old MU student.

"Viewer interest goes high on that," he said. "When viewer interest is so high, you put resources into it."

Stories that affect people's lives draw viewers, and people are capable of discerning whether they're affected, Woelfel said. Many crime stories, for instance, involve drugs. Viewers who recognize they won't be robbed or assaulted during a drug deal because they don't do drugs want more substance in their news, he said.

But those cases can generate wider interest when they have shocking details, and those are the stories that rise to the top of KOMU newscasts.

"Sure, there are assaults and strong-arm robberies," Woelfel said. "I can't say we never lead with it, but unless you are the robber or victim, you are not affected by it. That's not a threat to people in their comfortable homes. We try to focus on public safety."

When it comes to reporting stories based on police department news releases about arrests or criminal activity, "it looks like something people should care about," Woelfel said. But "I like public policy stories. I know they take more time and effort, but they perform just as well."

KMIZ, on the other hand, prioritizes weather and crime in its broadcasts. The station made the decision to take that approach about four years ago, News Director Curtis Varns said.

He has heard criticism about the station's crime focus, but he contends viewers recognize the depth of reporting and that its coverage ties to a common theme and focus.

The economy, he said, has wedged its way into editorial decisions in a station trying to stay competitive.

"You will probably recognize what we won't cover," Varns said. "Not that we are looking for any particular angle. Over time, we have come to understand what people consider news. People understand the news value" of crime.

At the Tribune, crime news has to be major before it gets front-page placement, Managing Editor Jim Robertson said.

"I've always been sensitive to the fact of presenting perspective with crime news," he said. "Not overselling it. That's why we don't get a lot of lesser crime stuff in prominent positions."

At the same time, people are interested in crime news, Robertson said. "So you don't want to underreport it, but you don't want to over-report it, either."

Regardless of placement, arrest reports are one of the best-read features in the newspaper, he said.

"It's our job to report crime, and it's our readers' job to react," he said. "If they are holding city government's feet to the fire" on crime rates, "then so be it."

Sometimes solving crimes requires police to "use the media smartly," Burton said. That means knowing when to keep information under wraps and when to make it public, he said.

Take gang activity. For decades, Columbia police denied gangs were in Columbia.

Then, in 2010, police acknowledged gang members were believed to be feuding with a local family after a number of gunfire incidents, including one during which an 18-year-old Kansas City man was shot at the Boone County Fair.

Sgt. Jill Schlude, a longtime officer turned police spokeswoman, said she doesn't recall why the department did not talk about gang activity, but it was a known directive. The department now is more upfront about gangs while also trying to not unnecessarily scare people who might see gang-related violence from larger cities on television.

"You cannot just throw that word out there and not give it any context," Schlude said. "I think that was the hesitation on the part of the previous administration. They didn't want the public going 'Oh my God, we've got gangs' and have everybody living in fear because that's not what it is."

Loosely organized groups of young people in Columbia meet the statutory definition of a gang, but they aren't the strongly organized groups found in larger cities, she said.

Police do not name gangs, however, because they don't want to give them street credibility, Schlude noted.

So far, she thinks the media have done a good job of reporting on gang activity.

"My fear was we'd go from zero to 60, and all of a sudden, everybody assumes we're living in south-central Los Angeles, and we're not," Schlude said. "The media has done a good job of balancing it, and" there's "a lot of recognition by the media that we're talking about younger kids with lower levels of organization."

The police department also has made some organizational changes referred to as "proactive patrol." That's not a new unit; rather, officers and units are just rearranged to patrol certain neighborhoods, Schlude said.

Part of the tactic involves sending media regular reports of all arrests made, no matter how insignificant the crime might seem.

Schlude said that public relations effort was in response to daily requests for arrest information from KMIZ and, to lesser extents, KOMU and local newspapers.

"I think, in the end, the communication is good," she said. "We definitely want the public to know we take it seriously and we're out there doing something. So it meets two purposes: trying to let people know and trying to be responsive to media requests."

Reach Brennan David at 573-815-1718 or e-mail bpdavid@columbiatribune.com.

Copyright 2012 Columbia Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. This article was published on page D4 of the Sunday, March 11, 2012 edition of The Columbia Daily Tribune with the headline "CRIME IN COLUMBIA: " Click here to Subscribe.

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Behind the headlines: Readers weigh in on crime coverage

Baltimore Crime Beat: Too much crime? Or not enough? Readers weigh in - Baltimore crime news: Police, courts and police stories in the city and central Maryland - baltimoresun.com JOBS CARS REAL ESTATE CLASSIFIED ADVERTISE HOME DELIVERY SUN STORE The Baltimore Sun > Maryland News > Baltimore Crime Beat Sign up for FREE breaking news text alerts: More Info « Feds file more charges in Block trafficking case | Main | Girl, 12, reports being sexually assaulted at city school »

November 11, 2011 Too much crime? Or not enough? Readers weigh in

Either we at the paper write too much about crime or not enough. Either we're complicit in covering up the violence to help the mayor or we're out to scare everyone away from the city and leave it to ruin.

Two readers shared their opinions on crime coverage. One was upset that we referenced Morgan State University in a short story on a fatal shooting. Another was unhappy with crime coverage in Charles Village, which he thought excessive for one neighborhood.

The Morgan man writes:

Every other day people are murdered or assaulted near a John Hopkins building, dorm, or establishment and never are these issues linked together as such. Either it is ineptitude, racism, or bad judgement? Either way, I just don't get how or why this is a story about Morgan State?

I grew up in an impoverished neighborhood near one of the wealthiest universities in the world and although a ton of crime occurred, the local news never connected it with this ivy league institution. Morgan State is a safe place that girds that entire community and Baltimore. Without it, it things in some of those neighborhoods would be tragically worse.

First, it's just wrong that a person a day is murdered or assaulted near any university in the city. There isn't even a person murdered a day in the entire city. The killing occurred Wednesday night in front of a dorm located off campus. The story mentioned location, and said that the university was trying to determine if a student was the victim. We later learned the shooting wasn't connected to the school and the story was update accordingly. But the institution as a locator for the shooting remains valid.

The gentleman complaining about Charles Village owns property there, and I've learned, and I understand, that property owners get upset when we cover crime in their neighborhoods. Many people also get upset when they see a police car speeding by their home and wonder why it wasn't reported in the morning paper.

Charles Village is an important neighborhood in the city, home to a major university, and crime is a problem. It's where Johns Hopkins researcher Stephen Pitcairn was killed, and where another man was shot in a robbery just a few weeks ago. A Hopkins student was sexually assaulted in an alley last month, and break-ins are routine fodder for the university's crime log.

The story to which the writer objects was how a Hopkins student pointed out a suspicious man crouching on a rowhouse rooftop. Police arrested the man, who it turned out was wanted by police on charges that he broke into a house full of Hopkins lacrosse players. It was both a story on a suspect sought in a series of burglaries, and an alert citizen (and student) who helped police do exactly what they ask of us each day -- be alert and report suspicious activity.

It's true that Charles Village is one of the more active neighborhoods, and they report crime and other goings-on with great frequency to us and to each other. That in turns gets them more attention than other communities. But I also received several emails from Charles Village residents thanking me for the coverage.

Here are the emails from the resident, Shaun Carrick. I'd love to hear what everyone else thinks: 

Dear Mr. Hermann:

It seems that you have something against Charles Village – you are regularly reporting on and rehashing crime stories that have some connection to our neighborhood (using words such as “adjacent” to Charles Village) – perhaps it is because we are a community of mainly white residents and readers read and react more to crimes in predominantly white communities.

Readers are often left with an impression that our community is one of the more crime-plagued communities in the City which is certainly not the case – we have crime as do most all city neighborhoods but your stories go well beyond simply reporting a crime – you seem to use your stories to accentuate fear and anxiety and oftentimes rehash crimes from the past to enhance your story.

“Steadfast” homeowner implies that we have a fortress mentality and that is far from the case.  I trust you have some appreciation for the damage you inflict on a community with your manner of reporting.

I would ask that you please consider the ramifications of how your report crime and characterize a community and its residents – if you and your newspaper continue to report in such an irresponsible manner you will eventually run all of your readers out of the City – I’m not sure that is an accomplishment worthy of a journalist or a reputable newspaper.

I had to laugh when I read in your newspaper’s editorial earlier this year about how the perception of crime in Baltimore was out of proportion to actual crime in the City – despite year to year declines in crime the perception of most Baltimore area residents is that crime has increased – it is your newspaper and to be frank your stories in particular which I believe are responsible for this disconnect between perception and reality.

Unfortunately, perception is oftentimes more important in motivations behind actions than reality and at some point perhaps my partner and I will decide it is time to give up on Baltimore before your newspaper succeeds in convincing everyone that they should stay clear of one of “America’s most crime-ridden cities”.

I would ask that you please give some consideration to the impact of your stories and the role you play in the exaggerated perceptions of crime in the City.  You really do this City a disservice.

Shaun Carrick

I responded, much the way I did above, and he wrote back:

Thank you Mr. Hermann for your response. I agree that you have a responsibility to report crime honestly and I also agree that crime is an important issue for our City and community.  Although it is true that Baltimore remains among the top cities for crime on a per capita basis, using a per capita statistic can be misleading as it simply compares communities on a relative basis – it does not necessarily reflect the reality of crime and true risks of crime for a city’s residents.

In Baltimore (as in many cities), the average law abiding citizen does not have a significant risk of being the victim of crime – my guess is that if you studied crime statistics (particularly violent crime statistics), those most at risk are themselves criminals or those involved with drugs.  In particular, those most at risk are young black men involved in drug trafficking – Mr. Pitcairn’s case is a tragedy but is also the rare exception.

The wounds of Stephen’s horrific death will never heal completely but we do need to keep such a tragedy in perspective.  Fortunately, the criminals in that case have been brought to justice and we all must move on as best we can.

It is ironic to me that because our community has a few outspoken residents (whose work on the court watch issue I very much appreciate) more information is made available to you which in turn ends up in relatively more crime stories about our neighborhood than other neighborhoods.

I recognize that there are citizens who do not trust government or the press but I would ask that you keep their views in perspective as they do not always characterize the views of a majority in the community – they just happen to be more outspoken.

In any event, we can certainly disagree on what is the best way to report on crime – I recognize your right and responsibility to report facts – what I struggle with is the embellishment that may accompany those facts or the choice of which facts to report when the consequence is to add to an exaggerated or even incorrect perception.

As we both know, how facts are reported and which facts are selected to report can result in very different conclusions and perceptions. I first moved to Baltimore in the early 80s when homicides were almost twice what they are today and when I had neighbors in Mt. Vernon and Bolton Hill who were victims of violent crime – today the situation is very different – crime is still a problem but it is unfortunate that the public perception is that matters have gotten worse when in fact the opposite is true.

I have never been the victim of crime (except in the parking garage at Towsontowne Mall) so perhaps my view is distorted by my own personal experience but I would like to see at least the other side of the crime story told more regularly – it may not be as newsworthy or salacious but it would help provide balance on this highly charged issue.

One item in your recent story which gave me concern is the fact that a judge released a repeat offender after only 13 days in jail despite his 2 or 3 year sentence – it seems to me that part of the problem is the laxness of judges in our criminal justice system; Mr. Davis should have been in jail.

It seems to me to be appropriate to report the names of these judges in your stories so that they can be held accountable for their contribution to crime – perhaps they would be cognizant of their actions.  I recognize that there may be extenuating circumstances that cause a judge to ignore sentencing guidelines but the conduct of judges would seem to be a story worth reporting.

I do appreciate the difficulty in reporting on crime but I would ask that you and your colleagues consider the bigger picture of how your stories may affect public perception – it is no one’s interest to create a perception that is out of proportion to actual facts but instead is based on fears or anxieties stoked by reporting.

I did see that your article in the published newspaper had been revised from the electronic version on-line to remove the word “steadfast” which I appreciate – the vast majority of those living in our neighborhood very much enjoy our neighborhood and choose to stay because of its many amenities – we are not walled up in our homes living in fear.

Again, thank you for taking the time to respond to my letter.

Regards

Shaun Carrick

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Confronting crime
       Comments

As one whose court watch reports reach the editors of this crime blog, I want to thank the editors for reporting accurately about crime in Charles Village. My block is where a burglary gone bad turned into a stabbing last August and where Glen Davis was caught on a rooftop. I want to know about the crime in my neighborhood if only so that my fellow residents and I can be prepared to take the necessary precautions. And like it or not, there is a lot of crime in Charles Village. Some of it is because our neighborhood has a lot of Johns Hopkins students who come from areas where it is not as necessary to be aware of potential crime, and because those students are generally more affluent than much of the Baltimore population. I have heard statistics from the past that some crimes are more prevalent in Charles Village than in nearby Waverly, for example. And I would remind neighbors such as Shaun Carrick that the Charles Village Community Benefits District was formed originally to provide patrols against crime, even though its focus now has shifted much more to providing trash cans.

There are some of us who have lived in Charles Village for a long time and are more concerned about our quality of life than about creating perceptions that may result in higher property values. I have lived in my house since 1970 and have no intention of selling my house. Getting the repeat offenders off the streets is far more important to me than what I theoretically would be able to get if I sold my house.

In sum, I thank the Sun for reporting on crime in Charles Village. We have a problem, and we need to face it.

Posted by: Steve Gewirtz | November 11, 2011 8:37 AM

Concerned about your property value? Worried about not enough crime getting reported? Too little crime getting reported? Can't figure out what is going on in your own backyard?

Peter Hermann et al, are just one little source for what is going on in Baltimore City. The fine people in our local government have made much of the data available about all the crimes, all the 311 calls, all the parking tickets available to everyone at data.baltimorecity.gov . Feel free to do your own homework to figure out whether Waverly or Charles Village has more crime. If you think the reporting is wrong then make your own crime site and show everyone how the Sun is incorrect.

Posted by: Cham | November 11, 2011 10:15 AM

First and foremost, I love living in Charles Village, and one of the things I most appreciate is how vigilant our community is with crime and the group that shows up for trials of people who have committed a crime in Charles Village. I also appreciate your (Mr. Hermann's) coverage of our neighborhood. However, Shaun Carrick makes a good point I believe is often overlooked - the sentencing of criminals. I would love to see Judges' records. I think court leniency is a major contributor to the crime level of Baltimore, and a story that just screams EXPOSE. I think the police are (mostly) doing their jobs, the communities are doing their jobs, but individually, if you witness a crime, are you willing to show up in court knowing if convicted, the criminal will often walk away with time served or a probation sentence? That's hard to ask of anyone, as personal safety, and safety of your family, is at such risk.

To me, fix the courts, fix the problem of individual buy-in. And to fix the courts, we need to hold judges responsible and bring the legal system in Baltimore to light.

Posted by: Michael | November 11, 2011 11:06 AM

The Morgan man didn't say "a person a day" is murdered near Hopkins, he said , "every other day" and regardless, I think it's clear to the average reader that he wasn't being literal, but making a point about the frequency of crime there. By attacking the semantics, you undermine your own argument. Don't be so disingenuous.

----
Semantics or not, there actually hasn't been a single homicide (or, to the best of my knowledge, shootings) near Johns Hopkins University this year with the exception of a man found in a vehicle near Union Memorial, and it was certainly noted as such at the time of the report. -JF

Posted by: Ron | November 11, 2011 12:16 PM

For anyone who wonders why Charles Village gets a fair amount of attention, all you have to do is compare the amount of crime there to other "more violent" areas of Baltimore city. Use the city's crime map: http://www.baltimorepolice.org/your-community/crime-map

Sure, there may not be a murder there every week, but residents deal with thefts, burglaries, assaults and robberies there on an almost daily basis. That type of crime matters to residents, homeowners and renters alike (and there are a ton of renters in CV.)

Sorry, but in my view, CV has always had anywhere from a medium to a major crime problem, constantly buffeted by spree criminals who rob, steal and/or burglarize its residents.

Posted by: georgeofthejungle | November 11, 2011 12:27 PM

Is a person a day murdered near Hopkins? Let's assume "near" = < 1 mile radius from N39.3290 W76.6205(the center of the JHU Charles Village campus). Looking at the last 5 years worth of data, within that 1 mile radius there were 5 homicides in 2007, 6 homicides in 2008, 5 homicides in 2009, 6 homicides in 2010 and so far in 2011 there were 5 homicides. During that time there were 1774 days. A total of 27 homicides/1774 days = 0.015 homicides per day.

---
A mile radius is pretty generous, too. -JF

Posted by: Cham | November 11, 2011 1:23 PM

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About Peter HermannPeter Hermann started covering news for The Baltimore Sun in 1990, first in Anne Arundel County and, starting in 1994, reporting on the Baltimore Police Department. In 2001, he was assigned to Jerusalem as the Baltimore Sun's Middle East correspondent. He returned in 2005 as an assistant city editor overseeing crime coverage. In 2008, Peter returned to the beat as a daily reporter and blogger. A recent BBC report featured him in a segment on the harsh realities of covering crime in Baltimore.

Coverage will focus on crime trends, problems in neighborhoods in the city and elsewhere, profiles of victims and police officers and try to offer readers a fresh perspective on one of the most vexing issues facing Baltimore and its future.

Contributing to this blog is Justin Fenton, who joined The Sun in 2005 and has covered the Baltimore City Police Department and the criminal justice system since 2008. His work includes an investigation into Cal Ripken Jr.’s minor league baseball stadium deal with his hometown of Aberdeen, a three-part series chronicling a ruthless con woman, coverage of the killing of five Amish children at a schoolhouse in Nickel Mines, Pa., and a job swap with a British crime reporter to explore differences in crime-fighting. A special report looking into how city police handle rape cases led to sweeping reforms that changed the way sexual assaults are investigated in Baltimore. He was recognized as the best reporter in Baltimore by the City Paper in 2010 and by Baltimore Magazine in 2011. Follow @phscoop, @justin_fenton on TwitterSign up for local news text alertsSign up for the Breaking News newsletter -- ADVERTISEMENT --

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