In 2020, talk of “defunding the crime beat.” Where are we four years later?

Back in 2020, Nieman Lab published “Defund the Crime Beat” as part of our annual predictions series, in which we ask some of the best and brightest people in media and journalism what they think the year ahead will bring. The short piece by Tauhid Chappell and Mike Rispoli, then both at the nonprofit Free Press, became our most-read prediction of the year and generated a lot of conversations online, in our inboxes, and elsewhere.

In their prediction, Chappell and Rispoli wrote:

Reporters at the Inquirer have to do weekend rotations and sometimes night rotations. I would [sometimes] have to write crime briefs on a rotation. There wasn’t always time to go to the scene — much less track down family members, have conversations with them, and write a story that speaks about the loss of human life and community impact. As someone who abhors crime briefs, I think one of the big barriers is the resources to do it better.

Even if people say, like, we have more suburban subscribers. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve talked to people in the suburbs who feel completely ignored while people in newsrooms say that they are the prized news consumer. And feel that, unless they’re on Facebook or NextDoor or particular digital forums, they can’t understand what’s happening in their community.

We have to be able, as journalists, to get real that we haven’t been meeting those needs consistently. This is reminding me of a conversation that I had with a former editor — but, you know, a lot of journalism and how we decide what stories need to be told, some of that is coming from direct community interaction and thoughtful communication and lived experience. And some of it is happening off vibes — and we have to actually acknowledge that.

I think in terms of what the [public safety] cohort is developing, the code of ethics is a way to respond to all of those things. I’m not doing it justice here because there are a lot of different principles and nuances. But one of the through lines is trying to move away from a politics of deservingness, if you will, over when there’s a nuanced story. Basically, one of the main things is that it is possible to tell harder stories. It’s the question of whether or not we can give ourselves permission to do that every single time.