Kids Cowed By Local TV News

Local newscasts give scant coverage to key children's issues such as education while creating a "climate of fear" by exaggerating crime dangers for kids, a study says.

The study for Children Now reviewed a month of local evening newscasts from July 1-31, 2000, on stations in the major media markets of New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Boston, Seattle and Des Moines. Research shows that 86 percent of Americans get their news from local TV broadcasts, more than any other media source.

Forty-five percent of all stories about children on the ABC, NBC and CBS owned or affiliated stations focused on crime, usually violent crime, according to the study released Tuesday.

By comparison, 24 percent of stories were about health and 9 percent about education, said Children Now, a nonprofit children's advocacy group based in Oakland.

More than a third of all stories about children depict them as victims of crime, "contributing to a climate of fear for children's safety by portraying them in grave danger ... " the study said.

Government reports, however, say crime is declining. U.S. Department of Justice figures show that rates for children victimized by violent crime and for juvenile offenders dropped by half in the '90s, Children Now said.

The study found the African American boys are more likely than any other group to be portrayed as perpetrators of crime and violence whereas white girls are most likely to be depicted as victims.

"By portraying children, particularly children of color, as perpetrators and victims of crime this frequently, local news fosters an environment where children are seen as constantly in peril," said Frank Giliam, a UCLA professor who conducted the research for the study. "This tends to lead to one of two actions by parents and policy makers: either bubble-wrap our children to protect them or support punitive measures against them."

The networks or their local stations in Los Angeles declined comment on the report Monday because they had not seen it.

One media researcher and critic called the report's findings distressing and accused local newscasts of distorting reality "almost certainly to help boost profit."

"Kids being hurt builds audience, it hits us in the gut. And it's a very cheap story to put together," said John McManus, researcher for the Berkeley Media Studies Center.

Little effort is made to put stories in a larger social context, according to the study. It found fewer than 10 children's stories, less than 1 percent of the sample, focused on issues such as poverty, welfare and unemployment.

"This is particularly striking given that one out of six children in the United States live in poverty, and that poverty is the single strongest predictor of poor outcomes for children," Children Now said.

Children account for over a quarter of the U.S. population, but only ten percent of all local news stories.

"By rarely covering children and when they do, reporting primarily negativstories, local television news marginalizes many issues that directly impact children's lives," said Patti Miller, director of the organization's Children and the Media program. "This sends the wrong message to children, parents, voters and policy makers," she said.

The study recommends that broadcasters increase awareness about the many policy issues that affect children's lives and consult with the local community to determine what is relevant in newsgathering about children.

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