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Item Citizens' Critical Information Needs & Local TV News(Center for Community Research & Service, 2015) Becker, Allison; Yanich, DaniloItem Political Ads & Local TV News, The Honolulu Case(Center for Community Research & Service, 2013) Yanich, Danilo; Ruiz, PaulItem Local TV News and Service Agreements: A Critical Look(Center for Community Research & Service, 2011) Yanich, DaniloItem Cross-Ownership, Markets & Content on Local TV News(Center for Community Research & Service, 2009) Yanich, DaniloItem Framing Responsibility on Local Television News(Center for Community Research & Service, 2002) Budzilowicz, LisaItem Crime, Community & Local TV News: Covering Crime in Philadelphia & Baltimore(Center for Community Research & Service, 1998) Yanich, DaniloItem Location, Location, Location: Urban & Suburban Crime on Local TV News(Center for Community Research & Service, 2001) Yanich, DaniloEven though crime has fallen in the United States in the past six years, public opinion polls indicate that crime and public safety are the over-riding concerns of citizens in communities. These polls tell us that a significant majority of our citizens get most of their information from local television news and, in general, they believe what they are being shown and told. In short, these newscasts play a pre-eminent role in the social construction of reality and, by extension, in forming the cognitive maps that citizens use to understand their communities. This paper examines how the press, particularly local television news, portrays the urban–suburban dimensions of crime in two major television markets in the U.S. Findings show that local newscasts in the markets differed significantly along the urban--suburban dimension of crime coverage. But they were consistent in the message that the city was a dangerous place. This paper suggests how this type of message in turn influences the shape of public policy responses.Item Making the Movies Real: The Death Penalty & Local TV News(Center for Community Research & Service, 1996) Yanich, DaniloMedia organizations, particularly the broadcast media, have become extremely important actors on the public stage over the last three decades. As a result, what the media chose to cover and how they chose to cover it is an important question. That is magnified when the media turn their attention to a public policy issue like the death penalty that already possesses profound social significance. In no other area of public policy can the state impose its will so completely and finally on an individual citizen. Therefore, the public should understand the issues that surround capital punishment. That understanding is virtually always communicated through media organizations because very few of us have first-hand knowledge of the death penalty. In this paper, I explore how television broadcast organizations cover the imposition of the death penalty. How did they carry it out? What themes did they convey? What did the public learn?