Abstract
In this article, we examine the correlates of fear of violence in the cross-media landscape. The study draws on the Finnish National Crime Victim Survey ( n = 6,141, respondents aged 15–74 years). First, we examine from what information and media sources respondents receive information on violent crime. We then examine how consumption of different types of media and information sources on violent crime associates with the contemporary experience of fear of street violence, avoidance behavior due to threat of violence, and perceived threat of terrorism to oneself. We also examine whether this association remains when age, gender, education, past victimization, and economic strain are adjusted for.
Highlights
Crime has been one of the main topics in news media for decades (e.g., Dominick, 1978; Graber, 1980; Johnson, 1998)
The results show that respondents following traditional media and social media were 5% more likely, and respondents following traditional, social, and alternative information sources were 22% more likely to report perceiving terrorism as a threat compared with respondents not actively following news on violent crime
The findings indicate that perceiving terrorism as a threat to oneself was linked with the consumption of social media, and alternative information sources on violent crime
Summary
Crime has been one of the main topics in news media for decades (e.g., Dominick, 1978; Graber, 1980; Johnson, 1998). Similar trends are evident in number of other Western societies, for example, in the United Kingdom, the increased crime reporting trend has been noted since the end of World War II (Reiner et al, 2003). The number of different information channels and tools to access information has become extensive (e.g., Näsi, 2013; Andrejevic, 2013). This means that the outlets for information regarding crime have expanded. Besides traditional forms of crime, in many Western societies, societal threats such as terrorism have become increasingly visible, further diversifying the modern-day media landscape
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