MISSION
The Crime Report (TCR) is the nation’s only comprehensive news service covering the diverse challenges and issues of 21st century criminal justice in the U.S. and abroad. Staffed by working journalists in New York, Washington and Los Angeles, it is published daily through the year by the Center on Media, Crime and Justice at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. TCR’s prizewinning coverage includes investigative reports by the some of the nation’s most accomplished reporters; analysis, blogs and commentary by leading criminologists, practitioners, law enforcement/corrections professionals, and legal experts; reports on new and cutting-edge research; and daily summaries of the most important criminal justice news, issues and developments covered by the national and international press.
In an era when newsroom resources for investigative and analytical journalism are increasingly strained, TCR is dedicated to providing an independent, non-partisan marketplace of news and ideas for those who want more than the daily diet of crime headlines and political rhetoric, The site also features a regularly updated calendar of events in the criminal justice field and a wide-ranging database, with downloadable resource material on criminal justice topics, reporter’s handbooks, multimedia reports, contact lists of experts, journalism case studies, and much more.
TCR is a collaborative effort by two national organizations that focus on encouraging quality criminal justice reporting: the Center on Media, Crime and Justice, the nation’s leading practice-oriented think tank on crime and justice reporting; and Criminal Justice Journalists the nation’s only membership organization of crime-beat journalists. [See “OUR PARTNERS” below]
TCR is a member of the Investigative News Network of online investigative journalism sites. Its work is co-published in sites such as Salon.com and The Daily Beast, and it partners with a broad variety of news outlets across the country, such as the Congressional Victims’ Caucus, Women’s Rights, Prison News, The Los Angeles Times, the Chicago News Cooperative, and many others.
Membership in TCR, which includes a subscription to our weekly and daily news alerts, is free. Please sign up here. You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
INTERNS
The Crime Report is proud to provide internships for up-and-coming journalists, journalism students and aspiring criminal justice professionals. For information about how to apply, please send an email to editor@thecrimereport.org.
EXPLORING THE SITE
TCR brings the best and most current usable knowledge available from a variety of criminal justice specialties and preoccupations under one roof as a ‘one-stop shopping’ resource―with the aim of breaking down the traditional “information silos” that characterize the field. The Resource Guide, still under development, organizes into 13 major topic issues and numerous subtopics, a vast amount of research and resources under a single research and information-oriented umbrella. The regularly updated Directory Topics, lists of experts and organizations represent a vital library of information for criminal justice media and scholars.
Our searchable Library is an archive of more than 20,000 criminal justice news and resource articles and reports. Our Conferences section is a portal to a rich collection of material from CMCJ conferences and workshops on emerging criminal justice topics around the country. Journalists and criminal justice professionals will particularly benefit from the collection of articles by CMCJ Reporting Fellows, conference podcasts and videos, transcripts of talks by participants, commissioned research and statistical reports; and from our Resources For Journalists section which contains case studies and guides for reporting the courts, sentencing, gun violence and many other criminal justice areas.
The Calendar of Events lists key upcoming conferences, workshops and other events, on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis. Readers can also follow “trending searches” and “most e-mailed” items to track the most current issues. Our Interactive Community forums and Legislative Tracker, both also still under development, aim to provide moderated and unmoderated discussion areas on current issues of interest.
OUR PARTNERS
The Center on Media, Crime and Justice (CMCJ), at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, trains senior, mid-career and entry-level reporters, editors and student journalists, in the research and writing skills needed to sustain journalism’s critical watchdog role over a criminal justice system that affects the daily lives of millions of Americans. It has served since 2006 as the nation’s leading resource for journalists on the criminal justice system, bringing working reporters together with scholars, researchers, policymakers, legislators, judges, law enforcement authorities, NGO advocates, and other practitioners for workshops, conferences and backgrounders on emerging justice issues. Its annual Harry Frank Guggenheim Symposium on Crime in America, held at John Jay College is now among the most significant events in the national criminal justice calendar.
Since 2008, over 400 journalists have participated in CMCJ programs across the country, and their work has produced significant reporting in areas such as prison reform, immigration, financial crime, tribal justice, racial inequities in law enforcement and sentencing, the courts, domestic abuse, drug policy and gun violence. The CMCJ also sponsors the nation’s only annual prize for criminal justice reporting, regarded as the “Pulitzer” of crime journalism. For more information on the CMCJ’s programs, please click here.
Criminal Justice Journalists, (CJJ) a non-profit, member-supported organization, was founded in 1997. Its goal is to improve the quality and accuracy of news reporting on crime, law enforcement and the judicial system. It has organized training sessions in media-related aspects of criminal justice for major national journalism institutions and organizations, including Poynter, Investigative Reporters and Editors, and the Society for Professional Journalists; as well as sessions at major conferences of professional criminal justice organizations, such as the American Society of Criminology and the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
CJJ operates a daily listserv for criminal justice journalists, develops special guides and case studies for reporters on coverage of criminal justice topics, and produces the country’s only daily digest and summary of criminal justice news, culled from hundreds of news outlets and organizations around the country. In January 2001, CJJ affiliated with the Jerry Lee Center of Criminology of the University of Pennsylvania. For more information about CJJ activities, please click here.
OUR SPONSORS
TCR gratefully acknowledges the support of John Jay College, its president, Jeremy Travis, and faculty; as well as generous contributions from leading foundations across the country whose support of CMCJ activities have helped to sustain the resources available on this site. Since 2006, major supporters have included: the David Bohnett Foundation, the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, the Joyce Foundation, the McCormick Foundation, the New York Times Foundation, The Open Society Institute, the Pew Center on the States Public Safety Performance Project, and the Public Welfare Foundation.
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
An international leader in educating for justice, John Jay College of Criminal Justice of The City University of New York offers a rich liberal arts and professional studies curriculum to upwards of 14,000 undergraduate and graduate students from more than 135 nations. In teaching, scholarship and research, the College approaches justice as
an applied art and science in service to society and as an ongoing conversation about fundamental human desires for fairness, equality and the rule of law. For more information, please click here.
The Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation provides core funding to the work of CMCJ through its criminal justice and media units. It works with visionary leaders and organizations around the world. The Foundation was founded to advance social justice, and all of its work flows from this fundamental commitment. For more information, please click here.