How non-profits are changing the remit of crime news

The death of George Floyd at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis sent shockwaves around the world. But along with cries to defund the police, another movement sprang up in the US, aiming to ‘defund the crime beat’. Journalists on both sides of the Atlantic argued that crime journalism was racist, sexist and classist and, in particular, promoted harmful stereotyping of Black, Brown and other marginalised communities.

New British investigative non-profits, such as the Bristol Cable, the Bureau for Investigative Journalism and its sister project, the Bureau Local, are addressing these concerns. Although none of these non-profits are expressly reporting on crime news, they are nevertheless changing the remit of traditional crime news.

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