Media effects: The influence of local newspaper coverage on municipal police size

This paper explores the influence that local newspaper coverage exerts on the relative size of municipal police agencies. It is hypothesized that the volume of law enforcement news stories affects sworn personnel allocations. Regression results based on 63 large U.S. cities show that media coverage does affect police employment levels. A content analysis of selected newspapers suggests that crime-related stories are prominently featured and tend to portray the police as effective in responding to criminal incidents. Implications for future research concerning media influence and criminal justice policy-making are offered. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Washington, D.C., November 1998. I would like to thank Ruth Peterson, David Jacobs, Randy Hodson, Christopher Browning, Maria Velez, the editor of AJCJ, and three anonymous reviewers for most helpful comments on previous drafts of this paper.