About media bias

Different media organizations frame issues and occurrences differently.

Case in point:

See how two different newspapers, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal, framed the recent veto by AZ Governor Jan Brewer.

How do you see it? The bill would have allowed businesses to deny services to gay people based on their religious beliefs.

Is this anti-gay? Or pro-religious freedom?

Just how exactly is this stuff considered news?

• Police find pot, pipes in Bieber limo
• New video of Bieber sobriety test  
• Petco sued after deadly rat bite  
• Cop kills just-married firefighter  
• Photo of baby with rifle shocks  
• Mom of British soldier hacked to death collapses at killers' sentencing
• Ohio man expected to survive after being shot 14 times 
• Officers suspended for homeless sign contest 

These are stories from different news organizations. Yet they are all "top stories."

All about crime.

Or criminal justice.

And mostly just nonsense.

So why is this stuff even news?

These are your leading criminal justice policy stories

Cool, Todd Clear was one of my professors.

And there are some good stories about shrinking criminal justice:

Search Results

1. Provost Todd Clear Receives High Honors from Academy of ... News from Rutgers-16 minutes ago Established in 1963, ACJS is an international association that “promotes criminal justice education, research, and policy analysis within the ...

2. Magistrates should work inside police stations to speed up justice ... The Guardian-Feb 20, 2014 Max Chambers, author of the report and head of crime and justice at Policy Exchange, said: "There is no good reason for our criminal justice ... Calls for 'on-the-spot justice' Hartlepool Mail-Feb 20, 2014 Explore in depth(28 more articles)

3. Holder: Restore voting rights for ex-felons MSNBC-Feb 11, 2014 Criminal justice is one of the few policy areas where evidence of a thaw in chilly relations between Republicans and Democrats isn't hard to ... Attorney General Eric Holder Delivers Remarks on Criminal Justice ... eNews Park Forest-Feb 11, 2014 Explore in depth(3 more articles)

4. Overcrowding our prisons is a failed policy Chicago Tribune-Jan 31, 2014 Overcrowding our prisons is a failed policy. January 31, 2014|By Esther ... •Our criminal justice system contributes to violence. Warehousing people in jails and ...

5. Criminal justice publication sues Ventura County over jail mail policy Ventura County Star-Feb 7, 2014 A criminal justice publication has filed a federal lawsuit against Ventura County, alleging a jail policy that allows inmates to receive only ...

6. ABC News Obama Says Exactly Zero Words About Pot, Drug Policy Or Criminal ... Huffington Post-Jan 28, 2014 President Barack Obama didn't mention criminal justice, drug policy or ... to be taking a more lenient stance on drug policy, allowing Colorado ...

7. State poll calls for reform of criminal justice system SouthCoastToday.com-Feb 20, 2014 The criminal justice system needs to focus more on preventing recidivism ... MassINC is a public policy think tank, founded in 1996, to stimulate ...

8. Reconsidering Mandatory Minimum Sentences: The Arguments for ... InsiderOnline-Feb 10, 2014 [1] The question remains, however, whether mandatory minimums are sound criminal justice policy. Today, public officials on both sides of the ...

9. MiamiHerald.com Miss. House approves criminal justice changes Hattiesburg American-Feb 10, 2014 Phil Bryant said in a news release after Monday's House vote. “These policies put the victim first while curbing escalating criminal justice costs.”. House passes criminal justice reform after debate on drug ... Jackson Clarion Ledger-Feb 10, 2014 Explore in depth(619 more articles)

Absolutely incredible

All street crime committed against property in the US costs about $17 billion per year.

Yet. many other things are far more costly.

Take the war in Iraq, projected to cost more than $3 trillion.

And the war in Afghanistan, costing perhaps even more, is now set to end.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-26346115

And for what?

I mean, what, exactly, has been accompished?

You are I, as taxpayers, have paid for this. Just as we pay for street crime.

Returning from the ACJS conference ...

I did not blog last week since I spent the whole week in Philadelphia at the annual conference of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. Great conference. Great city. Amazing experiences.

Yet the world keeps going on ... with stories about disgusting racial discrimination in Mississippi and New Jersey. Even today? Wow.

And there were dozens and dozens of papers pertaining to race and criminal justice, including one of mine. I also met three more former death row inmates released from death row, men who were innocent and at least two of the cases, framed through acts of corruption by law enforcement and the prosecution.

There were also many, many panels on media coverage of crime and criminal justice.

One incredible finding I heard there was that only about nine or ten percent of all undergraduate criminal justice programs in the nation featured classes on white-collar crime, and almost none of them were required classes.

This is consistent with what is shown in the book about white-collar and corporate crime; it is rarely covered. Turns out it is we criminologists that share some of the blame. We largely ignore it as well. Even though it causes far more harm that all street crimes combined.

How is this for scary news?

Lead story on CNN:

Fancy car, nice house, mass executions

Terrifying boss in one part of Syria

The radical group ISIS emerged last year as a major power in opposition-controlled parts of Syria. It is accused of the same kind of atrocities as the Syrian regime it fights. FULL STORY

• Islamists' harsh rule leaves scars
• Missing man's foot, shoe found  
• Too brutal for al Qaeda?

And how about a female serial killer to boot?

• Craigslist suspect: I've killed dozens
• Teen claims she's a serial killer  

Seems like fear still sells.

Local news embarrassment

I turned on the local news from Charlotte, NC today and the weather report was on. We are getting hit by a big winter storm. And it has been forecasted for a week with lots of specific warnings, etc.

So the weather man says that if you are stuck in your car, "do not get out of you car because it is dangerous."

Not 20 minutes later the station goes live to the scene of a road where people in cars are stuck in traffic for MILES! A woman reporter is shown--wait for it!--walking in the road to go interview people stopped in their cars ... as in walking in the road between cars to interview people!

You just cannot make this stuff up.

And then ... eventually ... station management asks her NOT to walk out into traffic! Um, duh!

What did the reporter ask the motorists? "Did you expect this?"

And they said, "No."

Incredible.

These are the top stories in the US today

From CNN:

U.S.

• 

  30 years for killing U.S. agent
• No murder charge in police death
• Are unsolved slayings linked?
• Southern guide to snow survival
• Will Atlanta be ready this time? 

From MSNBC:

• 1Ohio set for harsh voting laws
• 2Did Christie fly over bridge during closures?
• 3McCaskill: I won’t campaign next to Obama
• 4Time to drop the Clinton scandal revival
• 5Cantor uses Olympic glitch to mock Obamacare
• 6Warnings ignored ahead of toxic NC spill
• 7House Benghazi report slams White House
• 8‘Being gay in the NFL’
• 9Rubio readying for 2016?
• 10Surprise move in Christie’s ‘internal review’

So, 15 top stories, and how many about crime?

Five.

... including, by the way, a great story on how the toxic spill in NC was entirely preventable (of course).

Checking on the BBC

Today the lead stories in the BBC include new hope for Syrian peace talks, a story on the swollen River Thames, an NFL prospect coming out as gay and these "Other Top Stories:"

• Dismay in Europe at Swiss quota vote

  A Swiss vote to bring back strict immigration quotas for Europeans draws criticism from France, Germany and Brussels. 359
  

• Sochi 2014: Day three Live

  Live video and text commentary on all the action from the third day of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi BBC Sport
  

• French president in US state visit

  The presidents of France and the US make a joint call for an "ambitious" climate change pact, as Francois Hollande heads to the US for a state visit.
  

• Trafficker Corby released in Bali

• NY police break up cockfighting ring

• Anger at Japan whalers 'disrespect'

• Kenya football fan stabbed to death

• DR Congo ex-rebel 'ordered killings'

• Many dead after Burundi floods

• Lego Movie thrashes Clooney film

• Vigilantes parade in Mexican city

• Flappy Bird game pulled by creator 

• Pacific castaway begins journey home

 Only three stories about crime and murder. That is kind of refreshing compared to US news sources.

How newsworthy is a celebrity arrest?

Apparently, it is very newsworthy ... or else why would CNN show you this:

See Justin Bieber get frisked in jail

Bieber may face a felony

 

And so now you may understand why many criticize the media for focusing on trivial things rather than serious news.

 

 

Marijuana and legalization in the news

Wow. Look at this:

A Marijuana Economy Primer: Reefer Briefer

Potheads have evolved since the '70s, and the expanded legalization of the drug warrants a look at how and what to smoke now.

Pot-themed tours are budding business in Colorado

Denver tour operators offer visitors upscale marijuana tours of the Mile High City. Sharon Reich reports.

Why Marijuana Edibles Are Harder to Regulate And Don't Get You as High

Eating THC Doesn't Create the Fast High, But Lasts Longer

CO POT IS A CASH COW

TOUCHBACK: About half of Colorado's recreational marijuana stores have made $1.24M in tax revenue in the first 27 days since it was made legal.

But then there is this:

Fatal Car Crashes Involving Pot Use Have Tripled in U.S., Study Finds

TUESDAY, Feb. 4, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- The legalization of marijuana is an idea that is

The truth is no one knows what will happen with marijuana legalization. But it is sure we are about to find out. Let's see how the media handle it.

Major crime and criminal justice stories in the news

The Constitution Outside the Courts: President Obama

Lyle Denniston looks at President Obama’s use of Executive Orders and his statement that he won’t wait for Congress to take actions he feels are necessary.

Why Marijuana Edibles Are Harder to Regulate And Don't Get You as High

Eating THC Doesn't Create the Fast High, But Lasts Longer

District of Columbia city council to vote on decriminalizing pot

The District of Columbia's city council will vote on Tuesday on whether to decriminalize marijuana in a move that could make smoking a joint a violation

Quadruple Murderer Escapes From Custody, Allegedly Abducts Woman

Prisoner on the Loose After Driving From Michigan to Indiana

... and the hits just keep on coming!

 

Wait, so THIS is the lead story in the news?

Really?

Huh??!! Game had its moments -- off the field

10 best social media moments of Super Bowl XLVIII

Joe Namath's massive fur coat. JCPenney's big spell check fail. Social media had a field day with Super Blah XLVIII. FULL STORY

• Super Bowl ad winners & losers  
• Grading the ads | And halftime
• Opinion: Bruno Mars bailed out game
• Bruno Mars: 7 things we love

But don't worry, there is still plenty of crime in the news:

Convicted killer escapes, takes woman
Dylan Farrow's horrific allegations  
CNN producer caught in gun fight  
Girl kept as sex slave for 14 years  

Close to 50 bags of possible heroin found

Authorities investigating the death of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman found about 50 bags of what's believed to be heroin in his home, law enforcement sources familiar with the probe say. FULL STORY

More:

• Hollywood's everyman
• Opinion: The one and only
• His roles  
• Hoffman on addiction
• In his own words  
• Heroin's rise and fatal draw
• His finest scenes  
• Memorable roles