Work

Who Watches the Watchmen? Local News and Police Behavior in the United States

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Do US municipal police departments respond to news coverage of local crime? We address this question exploiting an exogenous shock to local crime reporting induced by acquisitions of local TV stations by a large broadcast group, Sinclair. Using a unique dataset of 8.5 million news stories and a triple-differences design, we document that Sinclair ownership decreases news coverage of local crime. This matters for policing: Municipalities that experience the change in news coverage have lower violent crime clearance rates relative to municipalities that do not. The result is consistent with a decrease of crime salience in the public opinion. (JEL D83, G34, H76, K42, L13, L82)

Source: American Economic Journal Economic Policy

DOI: 10.1257/pol.20230356

Authors: Nicola Mastrorocco, Arianna Ornaghi

Institutions: University of Bologna, Hertie School

Language: English

Topic: Policing Practices and Perceptions

Subfield: Political Science and International Relations

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: green

Funder: University of Warwick