How the Media Influence Americans’ Support for Police

Public opinion on police use of force is shifting. Over the past several decades, Americans have increasingly disapproved of officers’ actions, even when those actions are lawful and follow established professional protocols. According to my recent research, the cause isn’t just politics or changing demographics. One major influence is how the news media frames incidents of force.

This latest study builds on my earlier analysis of nearly 260,000 U.S. newspaper articles about police use of force, published between 1990 and 2021. In that work, I identified recurring themes in media reports—protest and reform, race, national politics, and official statements—some of which surged after high-profile use-of-force incidents. The proliferation of these themes coincided with rising disapproval of police force in national survey data.

But this doesn’t answer the causal question: Do headlines reflect public attitudes, or shape them? To test that, I surveyed a nationally representative group of nearly 2,500 adults. Respondents randomly were shown four newspaper headlines about police use of force with one of five themes: protest-and-reform, race, national politics, official statements, or unrelated “control” headlines. Participants were then asked whether they approved of police use of force in three situations: to prevent an escape, to subdue an attacker, or, more broadly, whether they could imagine any circumstance in which they would approve of a policeman striking an adult male citizen. These questions have long been staples of public opinion polling.

The results were clear. Respondents who read protest-and-reform or race-themed headlines were about 7 percentage points less likely than those in the control group to approve of legally reasonable force. National politics headlines produced a smaller, less certain drop. Official statement headlines (those from police or government-agency press releases) had little measurable effect.

While 7 points may not sound like much, consider two factors. First, the “treatment” was small: respondents were shown just four short headlines, collectively viewed for about 16 seconds. By contrast, real-world exposure is constant. In the days after a controversial incident, headlines dominate homepages, notifications, and social-media feeds. A small per-exposure effect adds up and can be reflected in longer term opinion trends.

Notably, the framing effect cuts across ideological lines. Liberals and conservatives started from different baselines (liberals less approving, conservatives more approving) but both became less supportive of police use of force when exposed to certain headlines. Race and protest frames seem to activate concerns about justice and fairness that transcend partisanship.

Official statements, by contrast, failed to move opinion. For police leaders, this is a sobering finding: once a critical narrative takes hold, institutional messaging alone is unlikely to change hearts and minds.

One implication of these findings is that media can shape Americans’ opinion of a given controversy. The press has a decisive role in police-civilian relations and should exercise that power responsibly.

Another insight is that Americans increasingly disapprove of legitimate uses of police force. This has real consequences. When a growing share of the public condemns police actions that meet professional and legal standards, trust erodes on both sides. Citizens may see officers as arbitrary or unjust; officers may view the public as uninformed or hostile. The result is a vicious cycle of cynicism, reduced cooperation, and defensive policing.

Closing that gap will take more than citing case law or publishing statistics. Police departments must better inform Americans about existing legal standards, or even revise those standards, as appropriate. Additionally, departments need to activate the public’s moral intuitions in official statements. That means using plain language, relatable context, and stories that humanize both officers and civilians.

None of this will prevent newsrooms from framing stories to resonate with their audiences. But police leaders and policymakers should recognize that even a handful of words at the top of a story can move public opinion about an incident involving force. What happens on the street matters but so does how these events are portrayed. Over time, the media may reduce public support for legal uses of force—to the detriment of police officers and the communities they are sworn to protect.

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