The media's portrayal of urban and rural school violence: a preliminary analysis

Although the juvenile arrest rate has declined in the last few years, publi c awareness of juvenile crime has not diminished (Snyder 1996; Schiraldi 19 98). The recent rash of rural school shootings has, in fact, heightened pub lic awareness of juvenile crime and delinquent behavior. This research exam ines acts of school violence that have been committed by juveniles in three rural school districts and analyzes how the newspaper media present these acts relative to similar acts committed by juveniles in urban school settin gs. Our content analysis of the Wall Street Journal, Louisville Courier Jou rnal, New York Times, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Los Angeles Times, and Washi ngton Post reveals that these newspapers present school violence in these t wo settings very differently and that these differences are reflected in th e way the political system reacts to such incidents.