This essay analyzes Canadian newspaper headlines and articles as a way to examine the role of the media in constructing the
content of public perceptions of violent crime. This essay argues that the media produce public fear of racial, ethnic, and youth-identified males through an over-
representation of isolated incidents. Sensationalization of violent crime has the effect of narrating
violence into stories, ignoring the value of news information. As such, the media invents public personae of gang-related violence, immigrant offenders, and violent youth, all of which are based on bias, not fact.