Violent Crime on American Television: A Critical Interpretation of Empirical Studies

Amir Hetsroni

chool of Communication, Ariel University Center of Samaria, Ariel, Israel.

DOI: 10.4236/sm.2012.22018                

Abstract

This article reviews six decades of studies regarding the presentation of violent crime on American television, and its impact. We critically discuss the major findings and analyze the political-public discourse regarding the macro-social effects of fictional and non-fictional televised violent crime. The claim made here is that this discourse created “too much fuss over not too much blame” in order to mark television as the agent in responsibility for social atrocities.

Keywords

Television; Violent Crime; Violence; Content; Effect; News; Drama; USA; Public Policy

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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