BALTIMORE, MD – News coverage at various media outlets in Baltimore during the first half of 2024 has provided misleading information about youth crimes, according to The Sentencing Project.
During their analysis of six prominent media outlets in the Baltimore area, The Sentencing Project found local news coverage regarding youth crimes is often hyperbolized in a way that increases public fears of youthful offending.
According to The Sentencing Project, sensationalized news coverage has been a leading factor in the bipartisan passage of a juvenile justice bill in Maryland in April that repealed evidence-based reforms enforced just two years earlier.
The new policy imposes harsher responses on youth that are likely to cause an increase in youth crimes and worsen the already severe racial disparities of the Maryland youth justice system.
The Sentencing Project’s analysis in Baltimore revealed several misleading factors including disproportionate focus on youth crimes, failure to support assertions of rising youth crime rates with accurate statistics and widespread use of fear-inducing rhetoric about youth crime.
The Sentencing Project established in a 2022 report that controversial news coverage about youth crime was on the rise nationwide, fueling calls in many states for increased responses to youth misconduct.
These calls came despite youth arrest rates for violent crimes and other offenses dropping far below historic levels.
The sensationalizing of youth crimes in the media also influences public opinion and then shapes public policy, stated The Sentencing Report.
The results found in this analysis have been partially attributed to the promotion of a “tough-on-crime” agenda being pushed by local politicians, resulting in unfortunate results for youth justice policy across the country, added the project.
The Sentencing Project also reported that news outlets were found to more frequently use fearful rhetoric in their coverage of youth crimes as well as misinterpretation of statistics, leading to an overly fearful public perception of youth crimes.
The analysis by The Sentencing Project also found that media outlets are overrepresenting youth crime coverage, noting crimes by young people are being highlighted disproportionately to their actual contribution to overall crime rates.
The television news outlets analyzed in the report focused on youth crimes in 24-36 percent of stories despite youth under 18 representing only five percent of arrests in Baltimore, said The Sentencing Project, noting misinformation on youth crimes in the Baltimore area mirror that found nationwide.
The report urges journalists covering youth crimes to be cautious in making assertions and to use data responsibly by avoiding concentrating on isolated offense categories.
