1.0The Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvaniahttps://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.orgrich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content"><a href="https://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/publication/television-news-and-the-cultivation-of-fear-of-crime/">Television News and the Cultivation of Fear of Crime</a></blockquote> <script type='text/javascript'> <!--//--><![CDATA[//><!-- /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(c,d){"use strict";var e=!1,n=!1;if(d.querySelector)if(c.addEventListener)e=!0;if(c.wp=c.wp||{},!c.wp.receiveEmbedMessage)if(c.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if(t)if(t.secret||t.message||t.value)if(!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var r,a,i,s=d.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),n=d.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=0;o<n.length;o++)n[o].style.display="none";for(o=0;o<s.length;o++)if(r=s[o],e.source===r.contentWindow){if(r.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message){if(1e3<(i=parseInt(t.value,10)))i=1e3;else if(~~i<200)i=200;r.height=i}if("link"===t.message)if(a=d.createElement("a"),i=d.createElement("a"),a.href=r.getAttribute("src"),i.href=t.value,i.host===a.host)if(d.activeElement===r)c.top.location.href=t.value}}},e)c.addEventListener("message",c.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),d.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",t,!1),c.addEventListener("load",t,!1);function t(){if(!n){n=!0;for(var e,t,r=-1!==navigator.appVersion.indexOf("MSIE 10"),a=!!navigator.userAgent.match(/Trident.*rv:11\./),i=d.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),s=0;s<i.length;s++){if(!(e=i[s]).getAttribute("data-secret"))t=Math.random().toString(36).substr(2,10),e.src+="#?secret="+t,e.setAttribute("data-secret",t);if(r||a)(t=e.cloneNode(!0)).removeAttribute("security"),e.parentNode.replaceChild(t,e)}}}}(window,document); //--><!]]> </script><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/publication/television-news-and-the-cultivation-of-fear-of-crime/embed/" width="600" height="338" title="“Television News and the Cultivation of Fear of Crime” — The Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe>https://cdn.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/journalofcommMarch2003.gif101131Why has the public persisted in believing that violent crime is a widespread national problem in the U.S. despite declining trends in crime and the fact that crime is concentrated in urban locations? Cultivation theory suggests that widespread fear of crime is fueled in part by heavy exposure to violent dramatic programming on prime-time television. Here we explore a related hypothesis: that fear of crime is in part a by-product of exposure to crime-saturated local television news.