| YOUTH INVOLVEMENT IN CRIME
Journalists in all 3 countries report that security forces severely restrict information for stories involving minors which in turn limits the stories that come to public attention in traditional media. In Grenada this seems to be more extreme where there is apparently in essence an embargo on stories with juveniles as there is a day designated for juvenile matters in each magistrate court and reporters are not allowed to witness proceedings. This begs the question…in an effort to protect the identities of children, are the authorities preventing stories from being published that should be, based on the nature and severity of the incident? This could be viewed as a form of censorship. Even though minors have a right to identity protection, the public has a right to be aware of significant events and incidents. Media has a responsibility to publish such stories accordingly while at the same time protecting the identity of minors. How representative is the coverage of youth crime? Following a comprehensive review of all the stories collected for analysis, a series of keywords were developed as a criteria for which most of the media reports could be categorized and compared. Table 9 below illustrates the data.
ST. VINCENT & THE GRENADINES
TYPE OF YOUTH CRIME BARBADOS GRENADA
TOTALS
Gang
10
1
0
11
Gun
194
7 4 4
36
237
Firearm
42
0
46 39
Ammunition
21
14
Knife
1
1 1 1
4 3 9
6 4
Cutlass/Chopping
0
Assault Murder
18
28 76
32
6 3
38
Homicide
1
3 2
7
Rape
7
1
10 15
Sexual Assault
12 14 19
2 0
1
Burglary
6
20 30
Theft Drugs
1
10
117 48
0 0
8 0
125
Robbery
48
Number of Stories 702 Table 9 - Data on stories collected by Media Institute of the Caribbean on the involvement of Youth in Crime and Violence for the period 1 st June 2021 to 30 th June 2023 536 32 134
32 A Media Analysis of the Coverage of Youth Involvement in Crime and Violence and Trafficking in Persons (June 2021 to June 2023) in the Eastern Caribbean
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