Media Matters searched transcripts in the SnapStream video database for all original programming on Fox News Channel for any of the terms “murder,” “homicide,” “robbery,” “theft,” or “larceny” or any variation of either of the terms “crime” or “violent” within close proximity of any of the terms “FBI,” “Federal Bureau of Investigation,” dip," “drop,” “decrease,” “downward,” “decline,” “fell,” “plummet,” “trend,” or “rate” or any variation of either of the terms “reduce” or “low” from March 18, 2024, when the FBI released its Quarterly Uniform Crime Report data for the fourth quarter of 2023, through April 1, 2024.
We timed segments, which we defined as instances when the downward national trend in violent crime highlighted in the FBI Quarterly Uniform Crime Report data release was the stated topic of discussion or when we found significant discussion of the downward trend. We defined significant discussion as instances when two or more speakers in a multitopic segment discussed the downward trend with one another.
We also timed mentions, which we defined as instances when a single speaker in a segment on another topic mentioned the downward trend without another speaker in the segment engaging with the comment, and teasers, which we defined as instances when the anchor or host promoted a segment about the downward trend scheduled to air later in the broadcast.
We rounded all times to the nearest minute.