Criminal Justice Journalists, a non-profit, member supported organization was founded in 1997. Our goal is to improve the quality and accuracy of news reporting on crime, law enforcement, and the judicial system. In January 2001, CJJ affiliated with the Jerry Lee Center of Criminology of the University of Pennsylvania. The center was founded by Jerry Lee, president of WBEB-FM in Philadelphia. For more information, visit www.sas.upenn.edu/jerrylee. CJJ is also affiliated with the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. For today’s Crime and Justice News, visit http://thecrimereport.org.
To learn more about CJJ, please visit:
- About Us
- What’s New
- ListServ — join our Cops & Court Reporters discussion list
- Membership — find out how to become a member of CJJ.
- Previous Conferences — read program information and press releases about our conferences.
Major Projects
The Crime Guide – www.justicejournalism.org/crimeguide
With support from the Ford Foundation, CJJ issued in the spring of 2003 the first installment of a guide to journalists on covering basic issues in crime and justice: the police beat, drugs, juvenile justice, crime victims, ethnic and racial questions, and ethical issues. Court chapters were added in 2005 and prosecutors, guns, and domestic violence was covered in 2007. Prisons and jails, sentencing, and probation/parole/prisoner re-entry were added in 2010. The guide includes story ideas and important sources. It is posted on the Web site of the Institute for Justice and Journalism, a collaborator on the project.
Understanding Crime Statistics – www.ire.org/store/books/crime.html
CJJ collaborated with Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) to write a guide to journalists for interpreting crime statistics. We cover the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports, the Bureau of Justice Statistics’s National Crime Victimization Survey, and other key statistical sources for reporters. The guide is available to CJJ members at the IRE member cost: $15. The second edition was published in 2010. You may order it at www.ire.org/store/books/crime.html.
