Crime coverage rose sharply even as homicide rates fell by half.

Evidence

According to the Center for Media and Public Affairs, crime coverage was the number-one topic on the nightly news over the past decade. From 1990 to 1998, homicide rates dropped by half nationwide, but homicide stories on the three major networks rose almost fourfold. — Davis, Angela Y, Are Prisons Obsolete, 246

Categorization

• SEED: The inverse relationship between crime rates and crime coverage is a readymade media-criticism essay with hard numbers.