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[Lime]

The key point from the report by Macromedia:

Deustche Welt did an English version of the report:

The professor told DW that he and his team analyzed 283 articles from four leading national German newspapers and 81 TV news reports published and aired between January and April 2017.

They noted a complete reversal in media attention since the mass sex assaults in Cologne on New Year's Eve 2015/2016, which were tied to the huge influx of refugees.

The Macromedia team found that compared to 2014, German news broadcasts this year aired four times as many reports on non-German crime suspects, even though criminal statistics show that crimes by non-German suspects have increased by a third.

Media attention to non-German crime suspects was already quite pronounced in 2007, Hestermann says. But he went on to say that this year, it has reached record proportions since the start of the long-term study.

The study found that broadcasters had 50 percent fewer reports about non-German victims of violence as compared to 2014. This is despite security authorities still recording attacks on refuge shelters. Sixty-four percent of reports about foreigners in Germany's mass-circulation Bild newspaper focused on those who were suspected of a crime.

Such coverage gives people a distorted impression, and can easily fuel prejudices, Hestermann warns. "People can get the idea that integration is one big mistake."

The Federal Office of Criminal Investigation (BKA) only recently (2013) began to note the nationality of crime victims. It found that non-Germans are far more often the victims of violent crimes.

Link to the full report: http://www.macromedia-fachhochschul...dia-professor-untersucht-medienberichte.html#

Here's the statistics as a graph in German:

 

[Nictel]

But the leftist media is supposed to be covering up crime stories of immigrants.

 

[Ladekabel]

Quite a few people think it's the other way around.

 

[Captain Smoker]

Tbh, this reads like they intentionally tried to paint refugees as bad, while broadcasters did their best to find a fair balance between the huge 2015 refugee influx and the inevitable media coverage that resulted from this. (mostly talking about ARD)

The right-wing-nuts always complained that ARD intentionally withhold reports to paint the situtation as good as possible. (and they still do and spread fake shit on Facebook)

 

[Lime]

Quite a few people think it's the other way around.

Exactly. This is a good debunk of the right-winged and far-right voices who complain that mainstream media aka the "Lugen presse" cover up and defend non-Germans (aka brown people).

 

[Kyougar]

Most think its the other way round, that the media and government are withholding massive counts of crimnes from regugees.

The last heavily discussed issue is with the Judges being lenient to rapists because of their culture. One attempted rape of a citizen was heavily reduced because of culture reasons and another "culture-case" was only getting probation in a child rape case because the parents (rapists and child were migrants) were ok with it. If this was a case of child brides, I dont remember.

 

[ebullientprism]

30% rise in both those numbers is pretty bad. How do those numbers look when adjusted for the increase in population though?

 

[Famassu]

30% rise in both those numbers is pretty bad. How do those numbers look when adjusted for the increase in population though?

It depends completely on how much crime there was before. If there was, like, 10 crimes before and now it's 13, that's really not an issue. If it was 100 000 and now it's 130 000, yeah, that's a pretty big increase.

Anyway, the point is that the increase in reporting is disproportionate to the actual increase in the number of crimes, no matter what the actual numbers are.

 

[ClosingADoor]

Seems at first they leaned one way with the positive reports during the refugee crisis, and now the other way. Would be good if we can end up in the middle then.

 

[Dingens]

There are so many ridiculous believes and conspiracy theorists out there that nothing anyone says will change the way this people perceive their surroundings. Facts don't matter, since gut feelings are way more persuasive.
Already looking forward to the elections in fall... (no, not the German ones, but the ones where the bigots have actually a historically high chance to enter government)

 

[kruis]

.

 

[Lucumo]

Way too limited information to be really useful. If they would add who the perpetrators are, then it would be a lot more meaningful. For instance: Due to religious differences, immigrants are committing violent crimes against each other. Of course those would be underrepresented in the media because there is little point to broadcasting those for the stations after the initial ones.
It's only suprising that it has gone down from 4.8 to 2.4 which does say something but it's not a lot, considering how low it is in general. Picture 1 actually shows something that indicates a trend and that's something one can work with.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

Learning from US media I see. Nice. Running news reports about "the other" being scary is great for ratings.

 

[bionic77]

Translation: how the right took over the world.

Spoiler

By lying and scaring people.

 

[Lime]

It's only suprising that it has gone down from 4.8 to 2.4 which does say something but it's not a lot, considering how low it is in general. Picture 1 actually shows something that indicates a trend and that's something one can work with.

Do you see the blue bar in that graph and how large it has become relative to the coverage of crimes against "non-Germans"?

 

[Lucumo]

Do you see the blue bar in that graph and how large it has become relative to the coverage of crimes against "non-Germans"?

You don't consider 4% (or alternatively, a 1.6% increase compared to 2014) low? And like I said, it does say something.

 

[You Are Viewtiful]

What do the two graphs say?

 

[xrnzaaas]

That boost is not as hard to achieve if you realize that the media outlets were scared as shit to say something (anything) negative about the refugees when the crisis started a few years ago.

Also since we're having fun with the studies how about doing a bigger investigation about how many crimes done by refugees are presumed to be never reported or still swept under the rug?

 

[Sloane]

Learning from US media I see. Nice. Running news reports about "the other" being scary is great for ratings.

Yeah, sorry, but you have no idea what you're talking about here. This has nothing to with ratings but it's the media overreacting to criticism of underreporting crimes comitted by refugees and of their initial reporting on the refugee crisis in general. It looks like they haven't found the right balance yet but comparisons to the US media are ridiculous.

 

[Dingens]

That boost is not as hard to achieve if you realize that the media outlets were scared as shit to say something (anything) negative about the refugees when the crisis started a few years ago.

Also since we're having fun with the studies how about doing a bigger investigation about how many crimes done by refugees are presumed to be never reported or still swept under the rug?

Yeah, sorry, but you have no idea what you're talking about here. This has nothing to with ratings but it's the media overreacting to criticism of underreporting crimes comitted by refugees and of their initial reporting on the refugee crisis in general. It looks like they haven't found the right balance yet but comparisons to the US media are ridiculous.

This statistic isn't about crimes committed by refugees though. "Non-german" seems to refer to anyone without German citizenship and the proportion of refugees would be on the lower end (judging by older statistics).
This just implies that the media engaged in general scaremongering against foreigners and uses the cologne incident as justification.

 

[bigedole]

Is it not possible that refugee crime was under-reported in 2014 and the increase in coverage now is a loosening of the supposed liberal agenda?

 

[Airola]

Bigger crimes, such as terrorism tend to get much more coverage on media. Depending on how they have counted the coverage it could explain some of it.

I mean, if they count an article about a terrorist attack written, say, two weeks after the attack as another piece of coverage about crimes by non-german, then that would have an effect as these things tend to be talked about much longer and in more magazines than more "regular" crimes. These types of crimes even tend to have a "look back" type of coverage a year after the incident, while the other crimes often might have just one small article written about them and they never come back to it.

If it's so, I don't think the news here should be about how the media covers things, but just the fact that violence against non-germans has risen a lot.

But then again, if the coverage is not counted that way, then the media coverage is worthy of news too.

 

[Lime]

You don't consider 4% (or alternatively, a 1.6% increase compared to 2014) low? And like I said, it does say something.

The point is that crime statistics of violence against non-Germans have risen while the news coverage of such violence have comparatively fallen down.

I.e. the German news media does not cover the rising anti-immigrant sentiment and violence against non-Germans, yet they do over-report crime statistics of non-Germans.

 

[Guevara]

A 33% increase in crime (any type) sounds kind of newsworthy.

What would the right percent increase in media coverage have been?

 

[HellforLeather]

A 33% increase in crime (any type) sounds kind of newsworthy.

What would the right percent increase in media coverage have been?

This is what I was thinking...kinda burying the lead here.

 

[Sloane]

This statistic isn't about crimes committed by refugees though. "Non-german" seems to refer to anyone without German citizenship and the proportion of refugees would be on the lower end (judging by older statistics).
This just implies that the media engaged in general scaremongering against foreigners and uses the cologne incident as justification.

That makes it sounds like they were looking for justification though which doesn't seem right. Cologne definitely was a turning point for them that made them question themselves / their reporting and they apparently overreacted in trying to be impartial -- before, they hardly ever mentioned the nationality of a perpetrator, for example, now they do it all the time. But I have yet to see any actual scaremongering, especially with the goal of trying to get "ratings".

Edit: You are right about refugees, I meant to say crimes commited by immigrants or people with an immigration background.

 

[Airola]

That boost is not as hard to achieve if you realize that the media outlets were scared as shit to say something (anything) negative about the refugees when the crisis started a few years ago.

This could have an effect on it too. In Finland there were several times when some crimes were just covered as someone making the crime, and people learning only after reading the court reports that the perpetrator had been non-Finnish.

However, a question should be asked if it actually even should be needed to ever mention where the perpetrator is from? Should the people even know that?

I guess it's all about how many times not mentioning the origin of the criminal has been because of deliberately not wanting to reveal it for example to hide it for some reason and how many times it has been revealed because of the will to make people more scared for example.

Maybe there should be some strict rule in the media to either mention it or not mention it at all. They should either always give that information or always not give that information.

 

[Lucumo]

The point is that crime statistics of violence against non-Germans have risen while the news coverage of such violence have comparatively fallen down.

I.e. the German news media does not cover the rising anti-immigrant sentiment and violence against non-Germans, yet they do over-report crime statistics of non-Germans.

*sigh* Yes, it has fallen down...by 2.4%. Also, please re-read my first post. That's even more needed now, after you wrote your second paragraph.

 

[Shiggy]

Do most reports even mention who the victims of crimes are? I rarely see coverage about who was attacked.

We definitely need to know the share of articles which don't even identify the victims. Unfortunately, the study isn't publicpublished. I hope the press release isn't any indication of the quality of the study.

 

[hiredhand]

Bigger crimes, such as terrorism tend to get much more coverage on media. Depending on how they have counted the coverage it could explain some of it.

This.

There were 5 terrorist attacks by islamists in Germany in the span of 16 months in 2015-2016 culminating in the Berlin truck attack in the December of 2016. In addition there were also the Cologne mass sexual assaults during 2015/2016 New Year's Eve celebrations.

In 2012-2014 there were 0 terrorist attacks by islamists in Germany.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

*sigh* Yes, it has fallen down...by 2.4%. Also, please re-read my first post. That's even more needed now, after you wrote your second paragraph.

Half as much vs "2.4% drop" are two very different ways of spinning a stat. On the surface, using the latter could imply that there was barely any change at all.

 

[Sarcastic Poster]

I find the increase more troubling than the coverage.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

I find the increase more troubling than the coverage.

Denial of victimhood by popular media is how these sort of trends become normalized. Why do you think most of America believes that the police are completely fair, and the black people are more immune to pain?

 

[Nightbird]

Do most reports even mention who the victims of crimes are? I rarely see coverage about who was attacked.

Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.

 

[G.ZZZ]

Seems a bit misleading. I mean, there were what, 5 or 6 terrorists attacks in 2015-2016 compared to 0 in 2013-2014, and those would've taken a lot of media attention. Also Cologne happened.

If you were saying that "average" crimes of non-germans are more reported i'd be concerned, but a blank statistic like this don't really help but simply provide some bullet point for people to throw at each other.

I'm of the opinion that the media should definitely underreport crime, especially from minorities. Two reasons:

- people are dumb and tend to construct patterns where often there are none. Since we can't expect people to understand statistics, we should report in a way that the *percieved* risk is more reflecting of the real risk. We don't need mob justice, if anything we could need a more efficient justice system but w/e

- people are dumb and don't realize that we live in the safest period of history ever. Pushing news of killing and death warp completely that perspective and are creating a paranoid generation of people who won't even let their kids play outside anymore because "it's too dangerous nowadays" when the opposite is true.

Well, both are basically people being dumb.

 

[Kinyou]

I don't think non-germans should be equaled with refugees as the articles headline does. Non-german doesn't exclusively mean brown people either.

Bigger crimes, such as terrorism tend to get much more coverage on media. Depending on how they have counted the coverage it could explain some of it.

I mean, if they count an article about a terrorist attack written, say, two weeks after the attack as another piece of coverage about crimes by non-german, then that would have an effect as these things tend to be talked about much longer and in more magazines than more "regular" crimes. These types of crimes even tend to have a "look back" type of coverage a year after the incident, while the other crimes often might have just one small article written about them and they never come back to it.

If it's so, I don't think the news here should be about how the media covers things, but just the fact that violence against non-germans has risen a lot.

But then again, if the coverage is not counted that way, then the media coverage is worthy of news too.

Yeah, wonder if terrorist attacks were included in that study.

 

[PdotMichael]

Something something different news media are skewed in favour of specific types of news. TV is always about the flashy visual kinds of news.

Also smh at trying to turn this thread into another USA thread.

 

[Gin-Shiio]

I am a German citizen, and the way refugee crime has been reported is a disgrace.
You'll be shown random numbers without context and told that refugees have led to higher crime rates. But then do your own research at home, and you'll see the numbers always fluctuate by a set percentage every year, and that nailing the increase now to the immigrants happens without any proof of links to them existing. It's similar to what's done in the US surely, albeit more subtle and not nearly as extreme.

 

[ClosingADoor]

Denial of victimhood by popular media is how these sort of trends become normalized. Why do you think most of America believes that the police are completely fair, and the black people are more immune to pain?

German and American media are not alike though. Yes, media has an influence of course. But the average European newspaper or television network most certainly does not have an anti-minority bias.

I am a German citizen, and the way refugee crime has been reported is a disgrace.
You'll be shown random numbers without context and told that refugees have led to higher crime rates. But then do your own research at home, and you'll see the numbers always fluctuate by a set percentage every year, and that nailing the increase now to the immigrants happens without any proof of links to them existing. It's similar to what's done in the US surely, albeit more subtly and not nearly as extreme.

I don't get why there isn't a public database for this stuff from the government. They apparently have the data. Put it out there online, update it each month, and everyone can form their opinion. Of course you'll have some still claiming the data is not accurate, but whatever. Would be very useful to straight up see what the actual situation is.

 

[Airola]

I don't think non-germans should be equaled with refugees as the articles headline does. Non-german doesn't exclusively mean brown people either.

Yeah, like for example in Finland there are lots of crimes made by Estonian criminals.

 

[Nightbird]

I don't get why there isn't a public database for this stuff from the government. They apparently have the data. Put it out there online, update it each month, and everyone can form their opinion. Of course you'll have some still claiming the data is not accurate, but whatever. Would be very useful to straight up see what the actual situation is.

The thing is:

Why look it up, when "the numbers" are spoofed to you anyway?

The poster you replied to did find out what the deal is with the numbers after a little bit of research. However the avarage news consumer is either too scared or feels vindicated in his own beliefs, so the idea that the numbers don't tell the whole truth doesn't even come up.

 

[ultratruman]

Extremely short sighted for the media and police to do this.

This is a gift for parties like AfD. Its completely irresponsible on the part of centrist people in power to behave this way.

In the UK we had the Rotherham and other Pakistani sex ring cover-ups, and I'm convinced it did more to help Brexit than Farage.