Abstract

A large literature shows that media reporting about out-group crime shapes political attitudes and voting, yet overlooks a crucial upstream actor: the police, who supply the information that newsrooms rely on. We argue that the police act as strategic bureaucrats who increase disclosure of out-group cues (nationality or ethnicity) when immigration is especially salient to signal transparency and competence to the public. To test this argument, we assemble and annotate a novel dataset of more than 1.3 million press releases published by local police stations across Germany between 2014 and 2024. Using this data, we conduct the most extensive analysis of police reporting to date via two case studies. First, following an exogenous, nationwide spike in immigration salience (2015/16 Cologne New Year’s Eve assaults), we observe a discontinuous increase in out-group cues in police releases that persists for about one year. Second, using a regression discontinuity in time design, we show that local police stations differentially increase reporting about out-group crime in the days immediately before regional elections, especially when immigration salience is high. Our findings show that police reporting is responsive to shifts in public discourse and the salience of immigration, shaping the downstream supply of information and the broader information environment.

Reference

Violeta I. Haas, “The Police as Gatekeepers of Information: Immigration Salience and Selective Crime Reporting”, IAST Lunch Seminar, Toulouse: IAST, October 17, 2025, 12:45–13:45, room Auditorium 4 (first floor - TSE building).