NEWS REPORING IN SEVERAL RECENT CASES WHICH COVERED THE TAKING OF HOSTAGES RAISED THE QUESTION OF THE POSSIBLE INFLUENCE OF THE PRESS ON ITS READERS. A CONTENT ANALYSIS WAS CONDUCTED FOR A REPRESENTATIVE SELECTION OF 11 NEWSPAPERS; 5 NATIONWIDE AND 6 REGIONAL. OF EACH PAPER, 24 EDITIONS FROM THE YEARS 1960, 1962, 1970, 1972, AND 1974 WERE EXAMINED. IN 1974 ARTICLES ON CRIME WERE MORE FREQUENT, GENERALLY LONGER, AND THEIR LAYOUT MORE CONSPICUOUS THAN IN 1966. THE CONTENT OF THE ARTICLES WAS FOCUSED PRIMARILY ON THE CRIME INCIDENT. FAR LESS ATTENTION WAS PAID TO CRIMINALITY IN GENERAL OR THE COVERAGE OF CRIMINAL TRIALS. VIOLENT CRIMES, ARMED ROBBERIES, BURGLARIES, AND TRIALS INVOLVING THESE CRIMES WERE MORE FREQUENTLY MENTIONED THAN OTHER OFFENSES. THE REPORTS USUALLY DID NOT INCLUDE GENERAL REMARKS ABOUT THE TYPE OF CRIMINALS OR ABOUT THE WAY THE POLICE AND THE COURT HANDLED THE CASE. REGIONAL PAPERS COVERED MORE CRIMINAL CASES THAN NATIONAL PAPERS. THE INCREASE IN CRIMINALITY SINCE 1966 ONLY PARTLY EXPLAINED THE HIGHER INCIDENCE OF CRIME REPORTING BUT DID NOT EXPLAIN THE GREATER LENGTH OF ARTICLES DEALING WITH CRIMINAL CASES. AS PREVIOUSLY SHOWN IN A SURVEY ON FEELINGS OF UNSAFENESS IN THE NETHERLANDS, PEOPLE WITH RELATIVELY SEVERE FEELINGS OF UNSAFENESS REGULARLY READ REPORTS ABOUT CRIMES IN THE NEWSPAPERS. OTHER STUDIES SHOWED THAT READERS OF NEWSPAPERS THAT COVER CRIMES MORE FREQUENTLY WERE MORE CONCERNED ABOUT CRIME THAN READERS OF OTHER TYPES OF NEWSPAPERS. GREATER DISCRETION IN PRINTING CRIME NEWS AND A DIALOGUE BETWEEN REPRESENTATIVES OF THE PRESS AND THE DUTCH DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE WERE RECOMMENDED. TABULAR DATA AND REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. --IN DUTCH. (WVK)