Media Continues To Focus On Negative Policing Stories

It’s sad that stories of police bravery aren’t shared more widely, Hampshire Police Federation has said, after a survey found that only 14% of all police stories in the national press were positive.

Martis Media read the seven major national newspapers every day throughout April 2024. There were 752 stories that mentioned policing: 102 (13.5%) were positive, 424 (56.3%) were neutral and 226 (30%) were negative.

Hampshire Police Federation Chair Zoë Wakefield said: “Sadly, these figures are not a surprise at all. It feels like all we ever read is negative police stories in the press and on social media.

“All our local radio stations and newspapers should be wanting to talk about the amazing bravery of our police officers. But they obviously think negative stories are more newsworthy.

“I know the damage that the Sarah Everard case has done to policing will take years, maybe decades, to overcome, and that is definitely a big factor, but we know the Government has a huge influence in the national press, and I think if the Government spoke more positively about policing then the media stories would follow.”

Zoë added that police forces also had a role to play in promoting positive stories, which are often shared internally but not pushed out to the media.