NPR rarely covers crime. That's because crime is mostly local and rarely of consequence to a national audience.
But when the president of the United States ordered military troops to patrol the nation's capital city, politics and public safety merged into a volatile and confusing story.
Studies show that news consumers are both highly interested and highly frustrated by coverage of crime. People read crime stories for two reasons: They are interested in the drama of what happened, and they want to know if they and their families are in danger. But news stories rarely, if ever, meet that second need for consumers.
I've spent years in my work at Poynter helping local newsrooms change their habits around crime coverage to better serve their audiences. Three causes drive substandard journalism:
- The human drama around violent crime is hard to look away from. So reporters cover it. (If it bleeds, it leads.) News consumers devour it. That creates a self-perpetuating cycle that fuels the public impression that crime is rising, even when it's not.
- Politicians accelerate false narratives of rising crime, just as President Donald Trump did with his statements on Aug. 11.
- It takes a fair amount of reporting expertise to dig up and explain crime statistics. Law enforcement agencies across the U.S. are inconsistent in tracking and reporting crime stats. While the FBI gathers statistics annually, it takes months to release that data. And a recent change in the federal reporting standards makes past comparisons more difficult. Also, no one independently audits the statistics that agencies release for accuracy, making it hard to trust the numbers.
With all this in mind, I've watched with keen interest as NPR stepped into the coverage of crime in D.C. I've asked questions of an NPR editor who shaped coverage of the federal troop surge in D.C. and an expert in crime stats. My analysis is below, after the audience comments and questions.
Also today, we spotlight a recent Planet Money analysis that anticipates where the recent cuts to Medicaid will show up in the health care system. — Kelly McBride
The president says crime is up, D.C. police say it's down. Who's right?
Liz Wolfe tweeted on Aug. 12: It’s crazy how you can just read paragraphs and paragraphs of NPR, ostensibly meant to inform, and have no idea what D.C.’s crime situation actually is like. It’s like their real intent is to obfuscate.
Christian Poirot wrote on Aug. 11: NPR calls themselves unbiased and fact based, but if that were strictly true, I believe I would hear at least some amount of right leaning journalism out of NPR. Take this morning’s piece on Trump taking over the DC police, something that I think is truly horrific. NPRs coverage was effectively, “yes this is legal, crime is down, why is this happening?” … There was no mention of what DC’s crime rate is compared to other metro areas, things that they are doing to lower their crime rate on their own, or why the current crime rate is acceptable/unacceptable. Without that context (a buzzword that NPR loves to use in the fundraisers) I don’t believe this is fact based or unbiased, because NPR had decided upon the reaction to the piece that they wanted before they put pen to paper. I am also angry about that use of force, but without stats that tell the full story, this piece has no teeth!
NPR devoted extensive resources to Trump's initial order activating the Washington, D.C., National Guard. They've interviewed officials, former officials and experts. While many of these stories mention statistics, I agree with these two audience members above. Listeners lack a clear picture of the crime problems in the nation's capital city.
NPR deputy national editor Russell Lewis coordinated the reporting efforts. He told me that from the moment Trump made his announcement on Aug. 11, reporters focused their efforts on examining the president's reasoning.
"We spoke to residents across the District of Columbia that day and almost every day since then. We went to areas where crimes are more prevalent and to places where it's not," he said. "For the most part, what we heard is that crime is not 'out of control' but people's perception of the situation greatly depended on where they live or where they frequented."
The strongest reporting has come from criminal justice correspondent Meg Anderson. On day one of this development, she was interviewed by All Things Considered host Mary Louise Kelly.
Listeners first heard Trump's statement from earlier that day, "Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged-out maniacs and homeless people."
Anderson quickly summarized the violent crime statistics reported by the D.C. Metro Police: "The city did see an increase in crime after the pandemic. That happened in a lot of the country. Murders in particular rose sharply in D.C. until the end of 2023. But since then, crime has been falling. In fact, according to the Justice Department, violent crime in the city hit a 30-year low last year. City data shows homicides are down by more than 10%, robbery by almost 30%, carjackings are down nearly 40%."
Three days later, Anderson and reporter Frank Langfitt added more nuance, explaining that crime is concentrated in certain neighborhoods in D.C. and giving voice to four people who live in two of those neighborhoods.
And on Morning Edition Aug. 20, Anderson pointed out that four of the states sending their National Guard troops to D.C. actually have cities with higher murder rates.
The most comprehensive explanation of violent crime trends appeared in an NPR.org story by reporter Juliana Kim. She explained that D.C.'s crime rates are indeed concerning, but many other U.S. cities have higher rates of violent crime. This context is critical and merits a wider audience.
In my view, outside of that single web story, NPR has yet to fully explain the extent of D.C.'s crime trends.
Lewis, the deputy national editor, disputes my assertion. "We did, generally, always reflect statistics from the U.S. Justice Department as well as the District of Columbia," he said. "This happened across most of our coverage, most of the time."
Including statistics is not the same as explaining what they mean. While many NPR stories allude to the 30-year low number from the Department of Justice, very few accurately untangle the crime trends in D.C.
Jeff Asher is a crime analyst who writes about crime statistics and consults with law enforcement agencies on assembling statistics. He's been frustrated by the recent coverage of violent crime in D.C.
"There's an inability to accept that yes it is a problem but that it's getting better," Asher said. "Just because you acknowledge that it's a problem doesn't mean you are on the side of deploying the National Guard."
Because law enforcement agencies are wildly inconsistent in reporting data, relatively few reporters develop the skills and expertise to interpret crime data on their own.
"This is a slapdash system made up of agencies that report what they want, when they want," Asher said. "Even the feds."
Violent crime can be measured by counting raw numbers of homicides, aggravated assaults, robberies and sexual assaults. This is helpful when looking at trends over time. For instance, 187 people died by homicide in D.C. in 2024. That was down from 274 in 2023, a year in which violent crime surged in many big and medium-size cities across the country.
Back in 2012, D.C. had 88 homicides. The number rose steadily over the last decade.
Violent crime can also be measured by rate, or the number of crimes divided by the number of residents. This is helpful when comparing one city to another. In 2024, D.C. was the 19th most violent city on the FBI's list.
Denver, Kansas City, Albuquerque, Houston and Toledo all had higher rates of violent crime in 2024 than Washington, D.C.
Although these comparisons provide some perspective, they aren't fully adequate when trying to explain crime trends to the public. The numbers aren't true apples to apples comparisons, because different law enforcement agencies have different policies for labeling and counting certain crimes, particularly assaults and sexual assaults. Also, several cities, like Los Angeles, do not report their crime statistics to the FBI.
Explaining personal risk is even harder than explaining trends. Another effective way for journalists to explore risk is to talk to the people who are closest to the problem, who've been victims of violent crime and are working to change trends. Their voices put risk into perspective.
"People who are at a high risk know that they're high, they know what their risk is because they know people who've been shot or they've witnessed gun violence," Asher told me. "People who are at low risk are much worse at evaluating their risk, because they see a news story about a mugging that was eight blocks away, and assign too much weight to that information."
NPR will have many more opportunities to help the audience determine the extent to which violent crime is problematic in D.C. and in many other cities across the country. As this story continues to unfold, politicians will most likely continue to mischaracterize the facts.
Overblown descriptions of crime do not excuse NPR from its obligation to provide an in-depth, contextual and accurate look at the problem. Providing news consumers with a deeper understanding of crime statistics and trends helps them recognize their own risk. It equips them to judge the president's rhetoric. And it helps them see the truth. — Kelly McBride
The cost of Medicaid cuts
The "Big Beautiful Bill" calls for Medicaid cuts that will strip approximately 10 million Americans of their health insurance by the year 2034, according to the Congressional Budget Office. While lawmakers assert that the cuts will save the country billions, a recent newsletter by NPR's Planet Money explores how taking away medical insurance will actually cost the public more money. The newsletter goes in depth on how the U.S. medical system works. It provides research, statistics and context, to break down how Medicaid cuts will lead to a swell of financial strain for hospitals, clinics and individual taxpayers, and lead right back to costs to the federal government. Read more here. — Nicole Slaughter Graham
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Kelly McBride
NPR Public Editor
Chair, Craig Newmark Center for Ethics & Leadership at the Poynter Institute
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