Award Date

1-1-2007

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Journalism and Media Studies

First Committee Member

Paul Traudt

Number of Pages

96

Abstract

Media studies have found Blacks more often linked with media reports of violent crime in their local communities compared to other races. The aim of this paper is to reveal if current trends in the Las Vegas media market overrepresent African Americans as the most active perpetrators of crime by examining crime statistics, race demographics, and television representations of crime and race in the local news. This study is a content analysis of the five major television network affiliates: KVBC, KVVU, KLAS, KTNV, and KINC. Seven hypotheses are tested. Results indicate that local television viewers in Las Vegas receive inaccurate representations of crime and race reported in the news. No support for hypotheses testing visual representations of crime and race are found. Findings indicate a tendency for the Las Vegas news market to be driven by crime and less likely to be motivated by race when reporting crime news.

Keywords

Analysis; Content; Crime Local; Las Vegas; News; Nevada; Race; Representation; Television; Vegas

Controlled Subject

Journalism; Mass media; Ethnology--Study and teaching

File Format

pdf

File Size

1546.24 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

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