Today's media focuses primarily on violent stories that capture the viewer's attention. So how are we, as viewers, affected by these stories? In her article, “The Violence Reporting Project: A New Approach to Covering Crime,” Jane Ellen Stevens focuses on the effects the media has on viewers and people within a community. I agree with Stevens when he says that the media fails to provide viewers with information about community violence and violence prevention. Without knowledge of the violence that occurs in our neighborhoods, we are likely to fail to distinguish the difference between real crime and fantasy. Essentially, we have a false perception about the reputation of our communities. Additionally, not knowing about violence prevention increases the number of crimes that occur in neighborhoods. Journalists report crimes from a criminal and law enforcement perspective. They do not inform the public about statistics and facts. As a result, our agency is tempered by having our knowledge taken away from us and that we, as bystanders, are not adequately informed about violent incidents occurring in our communities. By not knowing what is happening in our communities, we are slowly losing our ability to take action to prevent violence and crime. The lack of action is so problematic because humans are slowly losing the ability to take certain actions to keep ourselves and our neighborhoods safe. The media attracts viewers' attention by covering the most horrific and shocking crime stories. As a result, viewers become too emotionally involved with the victims of the stories, and many viewers don't realize that our agency is weakening. Without sufficient evidence about crimes, we are unable to find solutions to violence prevention or help cure the epidemiology of violence. The criminal incidents reported by the media are rare. Most stories often involve violent incidents where only one person or famous people are involved. Spreading these stories leads people to believe that violent crimes are rare. In fact, most of the crime stories that the media covers are not stories that take place within our community. In Stevens' article, journalists claim to "report the unusual" (113). Reporting of unusual crimes leads us to a state of confusion. Viewers are unable to recognize which crimes are real.