The Schubert Center for Child Studies is releasing “News-Coverage Analysis for Justice-Involved Children and Youth in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, and Ohio” as part of Youth Justice Action Month. This research, which initially began in 2022 as part of the Greater Cleveland Youth Justice Collective with funding from The George Gund Foundation, was extended to capture a comprehensive three-year review of local reporting on justice-involved children and youth. This study examined digital news coverage from January 2022 through December 2024 and identified 887 unique news stories from about 112 digital news sources. Our findings point to how the sheer volume of reporting on justice-involved youth brings disproportionate attention to youth crime involvement, despite data showing that minors are responsible for a small percentage of overall crime, particularly violent crime. Other findings include:
- While the majority of news stories were neutral, among those that were not, there were significantly more “negative” than “positive” stories about justice-involved children and youth in Ohio, creating and reinforcing a negative impression of youth and their level of crime involvement. Some news outlets did not publish a single “positive” story in the three-year period.
- A small number of media outlets and journalists contribute significantly to these more sensationalized, negative narratives. Even fewer publish positively framed stories or explore more nuanced understandings of youth or their experiences in the justice system.
- Journalists and reporters tend to rely on the same types of public leaders for quotes, which are often used to reinforce negative narratives about young people.
For more details, including recommendations for the media, public leaders, youth justice stakeholders, and the media-consuming public, please see the full report.