Don’t sensationalize crime

On Feb. 18, Temple University Sgt. Christopher Fitzgerald was fatally shot at 17th Street near Montgomery Avenue while responding to a robbery.

As the Temple community grapples with the tragic loss, social media accounts and media outlets have sensationalized Fitzgerald’s death and other crimes near Main Campus, using his passing to further stereotype North Philadelphia as a dangerous community.

Sensationalism is an editorial tactic in which events and topics in stories are selected and worded to invoke extreme emotions from readers and increase viewership, according to the International Council for Media Literacy.

This type of reporting violates the Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics. The exaggeration of reporting interferes with the media’s duty to be honest and fair, while contributing to a harmful depiction of North Central.

As campus safety concerns continue to rise near campus, The Editorial Board urges local media organizations and social media outlets to reduce their use of sensationalism in order to report with sensitivity. They can do this by limiting the amount of “buzzwords,” memes and extreme statements used for click bait, instead of accurately trying to call attention to an important news story.

Although TU Alerts generally issue notifications urging students to avoid an area or alert them of a campus safety concern, some students may search for more detailed answers from less reliable organizations.

When multiple headlines from news coverage of crime near Main Campus are strung together in social media threads, sensational reporting borders on fear mongering, which deliberately raises

STUDENT LIFE