IntelBrief: Fear and Loathing: Crime and Crime Coverage in the United States

Bottom Line Up Front

• Concerns over crime, both real and manufactured, were believed to have played a role in recent U.S. midterm elections.
• Media coverage of crime, a perennial campaign issue, spiked in the months leading up to the midterm elections.
• The new FBI reporting format for maintaining U.S. violent crime statistics has become even more complicated.
• Gun crime in the U.S. remains the greatest challenge to maintaining public safety, even as gun culture, the gun lobby, and some politicians work to prevent gun control measures.