Crime is an action harmful to another person and/or to society and made punishable by law. It is something that takes place every second of every minute of everyday. It is happening all around us. That's why it is important to know what is going on in our community and in our world. For this, we rely on three major sources of information. (Wrobleski and Hess, 2003, p.65)

Our first source is media. Much of what we know and hear about crime comes from local television news. Though it may dramatize and cloud the extent or seriousness of the situation, it continues to be the leading method in which we gather our information. According to Gest (2001), "Crime policy has evolved since the 1960's and contends the media to have contributed to the failure of federal and state crime programs by headlining lurid crimes that simultaneously panic the public...