A Comparison of Canadian and American Crime Reporting
Is there a difference between crime reporting on American and Canadian newscasts?
Homicide Reporting – Canada
The National Media Archive monitored CBC and CTV newscasts from 1989-1995, and found that stories about murders increased, while the murder rate during the same period decreased. In 1995, two high profile murder trials dominated the news: the trials of Paul Bernardo and O.J. Simpson. Most other murder stories covered by television were those involving random acts of murder.
The National Media Archive noted that 26.7 per cent of the lead stories on CBC and 16.7 per cent of the lead stories on CTV reported on crime (these figures were second only to political stories).
According to Statistics Canada, just 16 per cent of murders in 1995 were committed by someone unknown to the victim. However, of the murders that originated in Canada, 54 per cent of CBC and 66 per cent of CTV coverage focused on random murders. Only 18 per cent of CBC and 11 per cent of CTV news stories on Canadian murders focused on those committed by someone known to the victim – despite the fact that 83 per cent of the murders in Canada are committed by a spouse or acquaintance of the victim.
With this kind of coverage of violent acts on television, it is not surprising that Gallup Canada reported in 1995 that only 4 percent of Canadians believe violent crime to be decreasing.
Source: On Balance, Volume 9, Number 8
A year later, in their 1996 report, the National Media Archive noted that for the first time in four years, coverage of murder had gone down – even though the actual murder rate in Canada had risen by 6 per cent.
Source: On Balance, Volume 10, Number 8.
Since then, television news has reduced the number of murder stories coinciding with the reduction in the murder rate. In 1999, Statistics Canada reported that the homicide rate had dropped once again – a trend that is likely to continue. In the media, for the first 11 months of 2000, CBC presented only 84 stories on murder, compared with 140 for all of 1999 and CTV reported 146 murder stories, down from 171.
However, television continues to distort the public's perception of murder. Even though the number of stories about random acts of murder has declined slightly since 1995, the news continues to focus on murders perpetrated by strangers. In 2000, forty-four per cent of homicide reports on CBC and 48 per cent of those on CTV reported that the murderer was a stranger. (According to Statistics Canada, only 12 percent of Canadian murders are committed by someone unknown to the victim.)
The same happens with murders involving guns. In 1999, Statistics Canada reported that guns were used in only 3.3 per cent of all violent crimes. In the news, 24 per cent of CBC murder stories and 22 per cent of CTV murder stories mentioned that a gun had been used.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Canadian Crime Statistics, 1999 and Fraser Forum, March 2001
Homicide Reporting – United States
The Center for Media and Public Affairs monitors American newscasts. Like the National Media Archive in Canada, the CMPA has also noted a discrepancy between murder stories and the actual murder crime rate. While homicides have declined during the 1990s, coverage of murders has steadily increased on the network news during that same period. In 1990 only one out of nine crime stories dealt with homicide; by 1995 more than one out of every four stories (27 per cent) concerned a murder case.
Murders in general were given increased air time, even after the O.J. Simpson story. In fact, when the O.J. Simpson coverage died down, media filled the void with stories on robberies, murders and police chases (which used to be judged only worthy of local news coverage). After 1997 the crime which caught the attention of the media was school shootings. As well, the last third of the decade saw a five-fold increase in murder coverage from the first third of the decade. Like Canada, this represents a reversal of what is actually happening as the U.S. homicide rate continues to fall. However, this trend may be changing. In 2001, CMPA reported that crime coverage in the American news was 39 per cent lower than in 1999.
Source: The Media Monitor, July/August 2000, Volume XV, Number 1, 2001.
"Chaos" News Reporting in Canada and the United States
In 1997 The National Media Archive completed a study comparing the local TV newscast reporting of crime, accidents and natural disasters in Canada and in the United States. The study revealed that this "chaos" news accounted for 22 percent of local Canadian TV news items, compared to 40 per cent on local TV news in the U.S. American stations were also more likely to lead their newscast with a report on crime, accidents or disasters (72 per cent) than were Canadian stations (34.7 per cent).
Proportion if Civil, Chaos, and Entertainment News
in Canada and the U.S. |
| | Canada | U.S. | CBC Stations | CTV Stations | Other Stations |
| Civil News | 50.7% | 39.6% | 52.4% | 53.6% | 45.7% |
| Chaos News | 22.0% | 40.1% | 20.1% | 22.2% | 23.7% |
| Entertainment News | 27.3% | 20.3% | 27.5% | 24.2% | 30.6% |
The National Media Archive also found U.S. local news more sensational than the local newscasts in Canada. Rocky Mountain Media Watch reported that 35 per cent of the news reported on local US news programs focused on crime. In fact it is the "crime" portion of “chaos” news (which includes crime, accidents and natural disasters) that puts American reporting ahead of Canadian reporting in this category. For example, fifty-nine per cent of lead stories in the American news focused on crime compared to 23 per cent of leads in Canada.
Source: On Balance, Volume 10, Number 8, 1997 and Volume 11, Number 2, 1998
