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After the BBC's Editorial Complaints
Unit upheld an earlier complaint1
of ours on misleading crime coverage, we looked at
BBC News Online, and found that BBC headlines systematically
cherry-picked "rises" in crime, whilst ignoring
the (often more significant) falls.
Summary
All of the BBC News Online headlines from July 2004
to January 2007 (reporting on the quarterly publication of
the official crime figures) cherry-picked "rises"
in crime. Not one mentioned the significant falls in crime
consistently highlighted by the official crime bulletins.
In cases where the "summary" or "main points"
sections of the official bulletins listed no significant crime
"rises" (due to falls in crime being more prominent),
the BBC utilised, for headline purposes, less prominent crime
"rises" found in the detail section of the bulletins.
In some cases the "rises" reported in the BBC headlines
were not real rises at all, but artificial inflations caused
by changes in crime recording practices. (Note: it was on
this point that our earlier complaint was upheld after a long
investigation by the Editorial Complaints Unit).
Headlines are important
We have restricted our analysis to headlines (specifically,
all of the headlines between July 2004 and January 2007 –
eleven in total – which reported the quarterly crime
bulletins).
We are aware that the detailed texts of the BBC reports mention
falls in crime and briefly refer to caveats concerning crime
"rises". However, our concern is the impression
given by headlines which exclusively focus on
crime rises (with no apparent justification).
The following BBC Online headlines cover the official
crime figures (published quarterly) between 2004 and 2007:
"Violent
crime figures rise by 12%" (22/7/04)
"Gun
crime figures show fresh rise" (21/10/04)
"'Violent
crime increases by 6%'" (25/1/05)
"Violent
crime 'rise' sparks row" (21/4/05)
"Violent
offences top million mark" (21/7/05)
"Violent
crime shows 6% increase" (20/10/05)
"Violent
crime and robbery on rise" (26/1/06)
"Robberies
up 6% but crime stable" (27/4/06)
"Phones
and MP3s fuel robbery rise" (20/7/06)
"Robbery
continues on upward trend" (19/10/06)
"Risk
of suffering crime 'rises'" (25/1/07)
(Click on a headline to go to relevant
BBC Online page)
Distorted impressions
Among other things, these headlines give the impression that
violent crime has been consistently rising (according to the
official figures). In fact, the official figures indicate
that violent crime has fallen or remained stable since
1995, and has not significantly risen in the last three
years. Recent "rises" in recorded violent crime
are to a large extent due to the continued effect of changes
in recording practices2. The quarterly Home Office Statistical Bulletins
(which contain the official crime figures – a combination
of police records and the British Crime Survey) make this
clear3. Furthermore,
the Association of Chief Police Officers was reported
(by BBC's Panorama, 17/4/05) as acknowledging that,
allowing for the changes to recording practices in recent
years, violence had not risen.
Analysis
We illustrate, in our analyis below, the systematic "cherry-picking"
of crime "rises" by BBC News Online. We do this
by comparing the BBC headlines with highlighted "summary"
or "main points" from the Home Office Statistical
Bulletins (which the BBC headlines were, ostensibly, reporting).
July 2004
BBC headline: "Violent
crime figures rise by 12%"
Home Office Statistical Bulletin
(HOSB): "The number of violent incidents has
fallen by 36 per cent since a peak in 1995". Between
2002/03 and 2003/04, the British Crime Survey (BCS) found
"violent crime to be stable" (ie no rise).
HOSB: "There was
an increase of 12% in violent crimes (i.e. violence against
the person, sexual offences and robberies) recorded by the
police since 2002/03 though much of the increase is likely
to be due to the continuing impact of changes in recording."2
October 2004
BBC headline: "Gun
crime figures show fresh rise"
HOSB: "The risk of being a
victim of crime, at 25 per cent, is lower compared with the
year to June 2003 and is also lower than it was in 1981, the
year of the first British Crime Survey (BCS)."
HOSB: "significant
falls in vehicle thefts, all household crime and all personal
crime".
HOSB: "an increase
of 310 [firearms] offences or three per cent compared to the
year ending June 2003." (The yearly number of fatalities
from firearms fell from 82 to 704).
January 2005
BBC headline: "'Violent
crime increases by 6%'"
HOSB: "The risk
of being a victim of crime, at 25 per cent, is the lowest
recorded by the BCS since it began in 1981."
HOSB: "The number
of domestic burglaries and vehicle thefts recorded by the
police fell by 23 per cent and 17 per cent respectively."
HOSB: "There was
a seven per cent increase in crimes of violence against the
person [...] but these increases in recorded violence appear
to reflect continuing effects of improved police recording
of crime."
April 2005
BBC headline: "Violent
crime 'rise' sparks row"
HOSB: "statistically
significant falls in domestic burglary, vehicle thefts, all
household crime and all personal crime".
HOSB: "The number
of crimes recorded by the police fell by five per cent [...]
The figures show a ten per cent increase in violence against
the person but increases in recorded violence continue to
reflect the improved police recording of crime."
July 2005
BBC headline: "Violent
offences top million mark"
HOSB: "Overall
crime has fallen by seven per cent according to the BCS. There
has also been a fall of six per cent in the number of crimes
recorded by the police".
HOSB: "The risk
of being a victim of either burglary or vehicle-related theft
has halved since 1995 and is much reduced for other property
crimes."
HOSB: "Violent
crime has decreased by 11 per cent according to BCS interviews
in 2004/05 compared with 2003/04."
HOSB: "There were
1,184,702 violent crimes recorded by the police in 2004/05,
an increase of seven per cent since 2003/04."
HOSB: "The British
Crime Survey (BCS) is considered the more reliable measure
of overall violent crime. Police recorded crime is susceptible
to recording changes, especially non-serious violent offences
which form a large proportion of overall violent crime."
October 2005
BBC headline: "Violent
crime shows 6% increase"
HOSB: "The number
of domestic burglaries and vehicle thefts recorded by the
police fell by 11 per cent and 8 per cent respectively."
HOSB: "The number
of crimes recorded by the police fell by two per cent [...]
Within this total there was a six per cent increase in violence
against the person but increases in recorded violence continue
to reflect the improved police recording of crime and more
proactive policing of violence problems."
January 2006
BBC headline: "Violent
crime and robbery on rise"
HOSB: The BCS found
"violent crime to be stable [ie no rise] compared with
the previous year".
No "main points" in the January 2006 HOSB mention
a rise in violent crime or robbery. However, the bulletin
provides details of changes in recorded crime which show that
while there were falls in serious violence, violence involving
no injury, sexual offences, burglary, vehicle theft, other
theft and criminal damage, there were rises in robbery and
violence involving non-serious injury.
April 2006
BBC headline: "Robberies
up 6% but crime stable"
HOSB: "The number
of crimes recorded by the police remained stable". Recorded
violent crime "remained broadly stable". There was
a 3% decrease in firearms offences. (Note that in October
2004, a 3% increase was enough to generate the headline:
"Gun crime figures show fresh rise").
No "main points" in the April 2006 HOSB mention
the 6% rise in robbery, although it is mentioned briefly in
the further detail, along with a 12% fall in serious violence.
July 2006
BBC headline: "Phones
and MP3s fuel robbery rise"
HOSB: "The British
Crime Survey (BCS) shows that crime is stabilising after long
periods of reduction. Police recorded crime shows a one per
cent reduction in the number of crimes".
HOSB: "Violent
crime as measured by the BCS has fallen by 43 per cent since
a peak in 1995."
HOSB: "There were
765 homicides in 2005/06, a decrease of 12 per cent from the
previous year. The homicide figure of 765 includes 52 homicide
victims of the 7 July London bombings."
HOSB: "Police
recorded robbery increased by eight per cent between 2004/05
and 2005/06. This is still 19 per cent below the 2001/02 peak
in robbery."
October 2006
BBC headline: "Robbery
continues on upward trend"
HOSB: "The number
of crimes recorded by the police has fallen by two per cent
for the period April to June 2006 compared with the same quarter
a year earlier".
HOSB: "The BCS
showed a statistically significant fall in vehicle thefts
(6%) compared with interviews in the year to June 2005."
HOSB: "In the
year to June 2006, there were a provisional 10,267 firearm
offences, a decrease of eight per cent compared with the previous
year."
HOSB: "Recorded
violent crime for April to June 2006 showed no change from
the same period in 2005."
No "main points" in the October 2006 HOSB mention
the "upward trend" in robbery, although it is mentioned
briefly in the further detail (page 4): "Recorded robbery
figures showed a five per cent rise in April to June 2006
compared with a year earlier." A fall in sexual offences
is mentioned in the same paragraph: "There was a six
per cent fall in recorded sexual offences in April to June
2006 compared with a year earlier".
January 2007
BBC headline: "Risk
of suffering crime 'rises'"
The previous ten BBC headlines (July 2004 - October 2006)
didn't mention British Crime Survey falls in crime at all.
This is the first time (over the period analysed, 2004-2007)
that a HOSB "main point" relating to BCS findings
is used as the basis for a BBC headline. Coincidentally, it's
the first time in this period that the BCS reported an overall
crime increase (of just 1%).
Also notable is that the number of crimes recorded by the
police fell by 3%. The BBC didn't use this as the basis for
their headline, despite a preference for using police recorded
figures for the ten previous headlines (July 2004 - October
2006) – when they showed crime "rises".
HOSB: "The risk
of being a victim of crime as measured by the British Crime
Survey (BCS), at 24 per cent, has increased by one percentage
point compared with the year to September 2005 (23%). This
is still considerably lower than the peak of 40 per cent recorded
by the survey in 1995".
HOSB: "The number
of crimes recorded by the police fell by three per cent for
the period July to September 2006 compared with the same quarter
a year earlier."
Complexity & clarity
In the past when we've notified BBC reporters about misleading
crime reports, they've responded by pointing to the "complexity"
of the crime figures. There are complexities, but the
authors of the official crime bulletins have gone out of their
way to simplify and clarify – with bullet points and
clear graphs (such as the one below). You don't need to be
an expert to understand the crime figures.
Crime
in England and Wales, Section 5.3, Home Office, July 2006
>
Conclusion
All of the BBC News Online headlines from July 2004 to January
2007 (reporting on the quarterly publication of the official
crime figures) cherry-picked "rises" in crime. Not
one mentioned the consistent and significant falls in crime
highlighted by the official crime bulletins. In some cases
the "rises" reported in the BBC headlines were not
real rises at all, but artificial inflations caused by changes
in crime recording practices. This was always made clear in
the official crime bulletins – usually in the front page
"main points" section, or the "summary"
section.
Some of the BBC Online articles do briefly refer to caveats
concerning the violent crime "rises". But this is
always further down in the text – in our opinion it doesn't
mitigate the impression created by the headlines. Furthermore,
the misleading impression of "rises" in violent
crime is reinforced by a summary of links on some of the above
BBC pages, which reads as follows:
"FROM THE ARCHIVE
2006: Phones fuel robbery
2005: Violent offences up 7%
2004: Violent crime rises 12%
2003: Crime fight 'being lost'
2002: Street robberies soar
2001: Violent crime on the rise
2000: Big rise in violent crime"
See
BBC News Online for example >
Links to Official Crime Figures
(HOSB – Home Office
Statistical Bulletins):
Index
to Bulletins >
July
2004 > (pdf 1035kb)
October
2004 > (pdf)
January
2005 > (pdf)
April
2005 > (pdf)
July
2005 > (pdf 1102kb)
October
2005 > (pdf)
January
2006 > (pdf)
April
2006 > (pdf)
July
2006 > (pdf 1803kb)
October
2006 > (pdf)
January
2007 > (pdf)
(July editions are full reports; others
are interim)
Footnotes:
1. We complained to the BBC in November 2005 that a
BBC1 Ten O'Clock News report of a "significant
rise" in violent crime was erroneous and misleading.
On 21st February 2006, we received a letter from the head
of BBC's Editorial Complaints Unit (ECU), saying that
our complaint was upheld. The ECU has found that BBC1 news
breached editorial guidelines on "truth and accuracy",
and that there was "no basis" for claiming
a significant rise in violent crime. More details: http://www.mediasceptic.org/bbccrime.htm
2. Changes
to recording practices have inflated the figures for violent
crime, especially with minor offences. Certain "yobbish"
behaviours (eg minor scuffles) have been reclassified as crime;
a violent crime with many victims is no longer recorded as
a single crime – an incident with 3 victims is now recorded
as 3 crimes; a higher proportion of violent crime is recorded
– eg the proportion of common assaults (without injury)
recorded rose from around 50% to 68% between 2002 and 2003.
(Sources: Guardian, 22/4/05, Panorama BBC1, 17/4/05, quoting:
Home Office, Association of Chief Police Officers, British
Crime Survey)
3. "The British Crime
Survey (BCS) is considered the more reliable measure of violent
crime. Police recorded violent crime has been inflated over
the last few years by changes in recording practices (particularly
marked since the introduction of the National Crime Recording
Standard in April 2002), increased reporting by the public
and increased police activity." (Home Office Statistical
Bulletin on crime, section 5.1, July 2006. See also: 5.2 BRITISH
CRIME SURVEY AND POLICE MEASURES OF VIOLENT CRIME in same
document)
4. Home Office Statistical
Bulletin: Crime in England and Wales, Quarterly Update, 21
October 2004. Firearm Offences, table 2, p6: 82 fatal
injuries in year ending June 2003; 70 in year ending June
2004.
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