In November 2003, ABC News ran a series of television spots targeted at addressing the issue of juvenile crime in the United States. The spots were introduced with a run-down on 17-year-old then sniper-suspect (he has since been convicted) John Lee Malvo and his involvement in the spree shootings in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area last year. However, this introduction did several things other than merely introduce its audience to the subject of juvenile crime in America. This paper explores media portrayals of juvenile crime in America, particularly as it relates to the transfer of juveniles to adult court for trial and sentencing. The paper concludes that the media has played a significant role in creating a public environment amenable to increasingly harsh treatment of juvenile offenders.
The unknown snipers (Malvo acted into concert with John Allen Muhammad, a paternal figure) terrorized the tristate area last summer. Victims were shot down, obviously randomly, at hardware stores, gas stations, in front of schools. It was literally the stuff of nightmares. The police were initially caught flat-footed and people were afraid to leave their homes. These are the images and memories the ABC News segment touched upon in its audience by its choice of introduction. Thus, it encouraged its audience to associate those images and memories with the concept of juvenile crime ù and the Black face of juvenile crime û in America.
The ABC News segment discussed above is not alone it its sensational treatment of juvenile crime issues. Other media experts also argue that the media skews the perception of violent crime. For example, one expert points out that while homicides were declining by 33 percent between 1990 and 1998, the ABC, CBS, and NBC evening news programs were increasing their coverage of homicides by an astonishing 473 percent (Mazer, 2001, n.p.). In addition, while homicides represented only 1-2 percent of all...