• Lev_Astov@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    Seriously; I’ve seen several such posts stating a belief that it’s unsafe to visit the US, but that’s wildly ignoring statistics. The violent crime rate is like half what it was in the 90s and continues its general downward trend, falling further to below the previous bottom in '19. And most of that still stems from gang violence and the like, so it’s never near what tourists are doing.

    I don’t get it; I think people just like acting scared for some reason. Or maybe it’s them grasping for a reason to feel superior? People love that kind of thing…

    • Tikiporch@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      I assume the media there does the same thing the media does here. If it bleeds, it leads. Violent news gets top billing, while news of plummeting crime rates isn’t advertised.

    • FireTower@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      It’s just how media works and our media is the loudest.

      an unusual, infrequent event (such as a man biting a dog) is more likely to be reported as news than an ordinary, everyday occurrence with similar consequences, such as a dog biting a man.

      The only perspective people from outside the US have is that from the media. So when they see the man bites dog stories they assume that to be usual and frequent.