The Credibility of Newspapers and Fear of Crime

It was hypothesized that the effect of a fear‐arousing newspaper article about crime on fear of crime and concern about crime as a societal problem is dependent on source (newspaper) credibility. In an experimental study, participants were presented with an article on street robberies, ostensibly published in a more credible newspaper or in a less credible newspaper, whereas a control group did not read any article. As predicted, it was found that the article's effect on fear of robbery, fear of crime in general, and concern about robbery as a societal problem was fully dependent on source credibility. Further, women reported more fear of robbery and fear of crime in general than did men.