FEAR AND LOATHING ON REALITY TELEVISION - AN ANALYSIS OF AMERICA MOSTWANTED AND UNSOLVED MYSTERIES

From early newspapers to contemporary television drama, the media demo nstrate a continuing fascination with crime. Two recent television pro grams, ''America's Most Wanted'' and ''Unsolved Mysteries,'' claim to offer a different treatment of crime in that these programs dramatize ''real'' crimes and encourage the television audience to assist in loc ating fugitives. Content analysis of the programs reveals that depicti ons of crime are consistent with television crime drama, and that thes e dramatizations resemble urban legends in which crime symbolizes the uncertainties of modern life. The programs convey an unpredictable wor ld filled with unsafe people and places. This sense of modern danger j ustifies the programs' solicitation of audience participation through surveillance.