Imbalance in News on Young Seen
Crime, violence and child abuse dominate the news media’s coverage of children, while stories related to the care and health of young people receive less attention, according to a study released Tuesday.
Moreover, news stories about youth crime and violence toward children often fail to place events in the context of broader trends and contain less information about social policy than do stories about children, according to a University of Maryland study.
“The issues that we covered the most frequently are the ones about which journalists provided the least context,” said Beth Frerking, the center’s director.
“Context doesn’t have to be pages long. It can be a sentence,” Frerking said. “But without it, [the media] fail in our mission to help educate our audience and contribute to a more informed public debate.”
The study found that stories on child health insurance contained the most information about the current state of public policy. Stories on teen parenting and child care had the most analytical focus.
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