HOMICIDE REPORTING IN CHICAGO DAILIES

Fewer than a third of the 684 homicides committed in Chicago in 1987 w ere reported in either of the two metropolitan Chicago dailies. Both p apers, as expected, were more likely to cover ''high amplitude'' crime s that involved more than one victim. They were also more likely to re port homicides if the offender was male and the victim female, and les s likely to do so if the victim was African-American or Hispanic. Addi tional factors affected whether an individual paper would cover a stor y. Once selected for coverage, only the ''amplitude'' factor consisten tly predicted the prominence a story received.