The authors’ analysis revealed a number of findings, including:
- Racial disproportionalities among defendants in cases covered: The Chronicle’s coverage of criminal cases contained a disproportionate number of Black defendants compared to the makeup of Harris County’s general population.
- Sources with a vested interest in the outcome of criminal cases: Most of the Chronicle’s crime coverage can be sourced to either law enforcement or the District Attorney’s Office. When not quoting those sources, Chronicle reporters rely on organizations like Crime Stoppers of Houston, the former employer of District Attorney Kim Ogg; that organization regularly receives hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations from the District Attorney and law enforcement agencies.
- Premature—and misleading—coverage of allegations against individuals: Of the 270 unique Harris County charges identified in the Chronicle’s crime coverage, nearly a third of charges were ultimately dismissed, an outcome that was rarely, if ever, reported. Further, almost half of the charges had not yet reached a disposition at the time of our analysis of published articles.
- Lack of follow-up and context: Although legally innocent people are named in articles about arrests and charges, reporters often fail to follow up when a case is disposed. Additionally, the Chronicle has left its readers largely in the dark about the recent, dramatic increase in dismissals in Harris County’s felony courts.