6 ms·

Very simple explanation: the media. Fewer crimes happen these days yes, but that just means that the media can cover more of them that do happen, so we are mor

Very simple explanation: the media. Fewer crimes happen these days yes, but that just means that the media can cover more of them that do happen, so we are more informed of crime than we ever have been in the past. Thus, the news sources end up propagating this false idea that crime is actually on the rise because they work hard at keeping this news always at the forefront of people's minds.

S_A_P 17y ago
that pretty much sums it up there. It doesnt stop with crime either- weather reports in my city often have overtones of Armageddon as well...
- akgerber 17y ago
  I think you mean Snowmageddon.
  - adamhowell 17y ago
    Or Snowpocalypse. Or Snowtorius B.I.G.
- jonknee 17y ago
  Are you in the DC area? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpxiCxO5k0g http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpxiCxO5k0g
sp332 17y ago
Even if the coverage level hasn't changed, people's ability to process "crime levels" has been saturated. Even though the absolute level is decreasing, people still feel that it's just as high as before. Edit: for example, there are 476 hits on Boston.com's news wire for the word "murder" over the past 30 days. That's more than 14/day! http://search.boston.com/local/Search.do?s.sm.query=murder&s.author=&s.si(simplesearchinput).sortBy=-articleprintpublicationdate&docType=&s.collections=newsWire:&date=&s.dateRange=month&s.startDate=&s.endDate= http://search.boston.com/local/Search.do?s.sm.query=murder&#...
glymor 17y ago
The Economist suggested that the rise of national news gives more crime to report on: http://www.economist.com/world/britain/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15452867 http://www.economist.com/world/britain/displaystory.cfm?stor...
- WorkerBee 17y ago
  Yep,that article says that exactly the same thing is happening in the UK. Probably it's human nature.
jfoutz 17y ago
Another interpretation, there are a bazillion laws. everyone you meet in a day likely has committed felonies. People are much more aware of laws and logic, so the lack of enforcement gets harder and harder to overlook. Take the Lacey act: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/16/usc_sec_16_00003372----000-.html http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/16/usc_sec_16_00003372----... It is unlawful for any person to import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire, or purchase any fish or wildlife or plant taken, possessed, transported, or sold in violation of any law, treaty, or regulation of the United States or in violation of any Indian tribal law; Can you really say every piece of food you've ever acquired followed every required law? Did the truckdriver speed? It seems to me, you can be fined as much as the ticket would have cost the driver.
- WingForward 17y ago
  How does that follow? Maybe there are more laws, but people aren't being arrested for breaking them.
- Semiapies 17y ago
  What does this have to do with there being less crime?
GHFigs 17y ago
On top of that, an oft-forgotten influence on public perception is entertainment. If you add up the cop shows, lawyer shows, dramas with criminal subplots, crime-centric films, bestselling thriller novels, and crime-laced video games you get a force that's arguably more powerful than media that covers actual events. Yes, it's fiction, but it is fiction that relies on verisimilitude for effect, i.e. it isn't fantasy. It has to seem real, which undoubtedly has an effect on what people perceive as real. With a steady diet of fictional crime one could easily be persuaded that crime is more common than it is. I wonder if paradoxically this also helps to lower the incidence of crime, as the payoff in crime fiction is usually the criminal getting caught.
- jrockway 17y ago
  I think you are spot on. Watching 20 seasons of Law & Order gives one the impression that everyone in Manhattan has probably been murdered several times...
  - ryanpetrich 17y ago
    Some of them do look like zombies, yes
aplusbi 17y ago
I was in high school during Columbine. One thing you heard very often was "I this age of Columbine, you can't be too careful," usually used to justify an overreaction to student behavior (I had a friend who would wear a trench coat to school and was harassed by the administration). Except that in the late nineties youth crime and school violence had already been on a steady decline and was continuing in that direction.
- Zak 17y ago
  Unfortunately, "yes, you can be too careful" doesn't usually go over well with when people are afraid of something. We need people who are brave and charismatic to come out and say it. Paranoia is harmful.
Semiapies 17y ago
If it bleeds, it leads. TFA cheerfully ignores the role of local news media in hyping up any story of violent crime and encouraging anxiety and paranoia when it comes to crime in general. "Are your children endangered by crazed illegal immigrant serial killer internet pedophile terrorists in their school right now? Find out, tonight at 11."
jcromartie 17y ago
And also the massive multi-billion-dollar incarceration industry. They lobby hard for "tough on crime" policies and attitudes.

S_A_P 17y ago

that pretty much sums it up there. It doesnt stop with crime either- weather reports in my city often have overtones of Armageddon as well...

akgerber 17y ago
I think you mean Snowmageddon.
- adamhowell 17y ago
  Or Snowpocalypse. Or Snowtorius B.I.G.
jonknee 17y ago
Are you in the DC area? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpxiCxO5k0g http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpxiCxO5k0g

sp332 17y ago

Even if the coverage level hasn't changed, people's ability to process "crime levels" has been saturated. Even though the absolute level is decreasing, people still feel that it's just as high as before. Edit: for example, there are 476 hits on Boston.com's news wire for the word "murder" over the past 30 days. That's more than 14/day! http://search.boston.com/local/Search.do?s.sm.query=murder&s.author=&s.si(simplesearchinput).sortBy=-articleprintpublicationdate&docType=&s.collections=newsWire:&date=&s.dateRange=month&s.startDate=&s.endDate= http://search.boston.com/local/Search.do?s.sm.query=murder&#...

glymor 17y ago

The Economist suggested that the rise of national news gives more crime to report on: http://www.economist.com/world/britain/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15452867 http://www.economist.com/world/britain/displaystory.cfm?stor...

WorkerBee 17y ago
Yep,that article says that exactly the same thing is happening in the UK. Probably it's human nature.

jfoutz 17y ago

Another interpretation, there are a bazillion laws. everyone you meet in a day likely has committed felonies. People are much more aware of laws and logic, so the lack of enforcement gets harder and harder to overlook. Take the Lacey act: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/16/usc_sec_16_00003372----000-.html http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/16/usc_sec_16_00003372----... It is unlawful for any person to import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire, or purchase any fish or wildlife or plant taken, possessed, transported, or sold in violation of any law, treaty, or regulation of the United States or in violation of any Indian tribal law; Can you really say every piece of food you've ever acquired followed every required law? Did the truckdriver speed? It seems to me, you can be fined as much as the ticket would have cost the driver.

WingForward 17y ago
How does that follow? Maybe there are more laws, but people aren't being arrested for breaking them.
Semiapies 17y ago
What does this have to do with there being less crime?

GHFigs 17y ago

On top of that, an oft-forgotten influence on public perception is entertainment. If you add up the cop shows, lawyer shows, dramas with criminal subplots, crime-centric films, bestselling thriller novels, and crime-laced video games you get a force that's arguably more powerful than media that covers actual events. Yes, it's fiction, but it is fiction that relies on verisimilitude for effect, i.e. it isn't fantasy. It has to seem real, which undoubtedly has an effect on what people perceive as real. With a steady diet of fictional crime one could easily be persuaded that crime is more common than it is. I wonder if paradoxically this also helps to lower the incidence of crime, as the payoff in crime fiction is usually the criminal getting caught.

jrockway 17y ago
I think you are spot on. Watching 20 seasons of Law & Order gives one the impression that everyone in Manhattan has probably been murdered several times...
- ryanpetrich 17y ago
  Some of them do look like zombies, yes

aplusbi 17y ago

I was in high school during Columbine. One thing you heard very often was "I this age of Columbine, you can't be too careful," usually used to justify an overreaction to student behavior (I had a friend who would wear a trench coat to school and was harassed by the administration). Except that in the late nineties youth crime and school violence had already been on a steady decline and was continuing in that direction.

Zak 17y ago
Unfortunately, "yes, you can be too careful" doesn't usually go over well with when people are afraid of something. We need people who are brave and charismatic to come out and say it. Paranoia is harmful.

Semiapies 17y ago

If it bleeds, it leads. TFA cheerfully ignores the role of local news media in hyping up any story of violent crime and encouraging anxiety and paranoia when it comes to crime in general. "Are your children endangered by crazed illegal immigrant serial killer internet pedophile terrorists in their school right now? Find out, tonight at 11."

jcromartie 17y ago

And also the massive multi-billion-dollar incarceration industry. They lobby hard for "tough on crime" policies and attitudes.