Exemplification of child abduction in US news media: Testing media effects on parental perceptions and assessment of risk: Exemplification of Child Abduction in US media

The objective of this study is to advance the literature on exemplification theory and how media coverage can impact public perceptions of crime. This 3-condition, between-subjects experimental design tests whether specific child abduction news stories influenced parental concerns, in particular their estimation of the likelihood of the crime as a threat in their own communities and for their own families. This study finds that there are no significant direct effects of being exposed to news stories about child abduction on the perception that the problem will get worse; however, this effect is mediated by the perception of child abduction as a threat in one’s own community. The level of proximity may explain why parents exposed to the extreme news exemplar perceive child abductions to be a problem in their own community, but not necessarily perceive the crime as a personal threat likely to happen to one’s own child or family. Theoretical and practical implications about news coverage and its impact on public perceptions of crime are discussed.