Covering Crime & Justice is an online resource for journalists assigned to crime, courts and related beats. Our goal is to provide best practices, reporting guides and data to help journalists cover their communities and broader criminal justice topics.

Crime journalism in the United States has long been criticized for being sensationalistic, lacking a foundation of reliable data and negatively impacting vulnerable populations. Covering Crime & Justice wants to help combat this by providing journalists with resources to cover their beats in a data-forward and equitable manner. We want reporters to understand modern reporting best practices and how to use data effectively, including understanding the limitations and pitfalls of available datasets.

Covering Crime & Justice is run by the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, with the support of the nonprofit organization Criminal Justice Journalists. Adam Marton, a longtime data journalist and senior lecturer at Merrill College, is the site editor.

If you would like to reach out to us, or have a question about covering criminal justice issues, please use the form below. You can sign up for our newsletter here or connect with other criminal justice journalists by joining our LinkedIn Group.