Chicago, IL

Over the 90-day window, Chicago's open data recorded 57,619 total incidents. The two largest measured categories were assault (16,122 incidents, 28% of the total) and theft (12,560, 22%), followed by vandalism (6,297, 11%) and motor vehicle theft (4,517, 8%). Homicide, at 107 recorded incidents, represented less than 1% of all measured crime. Burglary posted the sharpest recent acceleration at plus 33% over the trailing 30 days, and weapons offenses rose 22%, while fraud and arson each moved lower by 8% and 23% respectively. Those proportions form the baseline against which both coverage tracks should be read.

National outlet coverage (90 stories total) devoted 54% of its Chicago crime stories to homicide, a category that makes up under 1% of measured incidents. Theft, which accounts for 22% of recorded crime, drew only 3% of national stories (3 of 90). Vandalism (11% of data) and fraud (5% of data) each received zero national stories. That gap is the defining feature of the national coverage track: it concentrates almost entirely on homicide, assault, arson, and disorder while leaving the high-volume property crime landscape almost invisible. Local coverage (325 stories) produced a meaningfully different but still skewed picture: homicide drew 43% of local stories (140 of 325), assault 22% (71 stories), sex offenses 8% (25 stories), and robbery 6% (21 stories). A June 28, 2026 River North shooting during a robbery was covered simultaneously by the Chicago Sun-Times, WGN9, FOX 32, and ABC7, illustrating how a single violent incident can generate multiple local story units. Vandalism (11% of data, 6,297 incidents) received zero local stories in the window, and fraud (2,838 incidents, 5% of data) likewise drew none, meaning both tracks share a blind spot on property and financial crime even as local coverage distributes attention more broadly than national.

The national-versus-local divergence is clearest in two places. First, homicide: national outlets assigned 54% of their stories to it versus 43% locally, a gap of 11 percentage points on the same category. Second, arson: national outlets gave arson 9% of their coverage share (8 of 90 stories) while local outlets assigned only 3% (9 of 325), even though arson posted the steepest measured decline at minus 23% over 30 days, suggesting national interest in arson may not track its current measured trajectory. Robbery shows the inverse pattern: local outlets produced 21 stories (6% share) against 1 national story (1% share), a category where local press is clearly the more detailed source. Readers relying solely on national coverage would encounter a city whose crime story is almost entirely about homicide and, secondarily, arson; readers of local coverage see more of assault, robbery, sex offenses, and weapons, though high-volume property categories remain undercovered in both tracks relative to their share of recorded incidents.

Each category’s share of measured incidents, national/cable coverage, and local coverage over the same ~90-day window.

90 national stories · 325 local stories in window

• Chicago Sun-TimesMan shot during River North robbery, police say
• WGN9 ChicagoMan critically injured after being shot multiple times during robbery attempt overnight in River North, police say
• FOX 32 ChicagoMan shot, critically hurt in Chicago’s River North by robbers, CPD says
• ABC7 ChicagoMan shot, robbed in River North, Chicago police say
• FOX 32 ChicagoChicago man charged in 2024 Washington Heights shooting: police
• FOX 32 ChicagoMan critically wounded in West Englewood shooting; suspect arrested: police
• FOX 32 ChicagoChicago man charged in string of airbag thefts from West Side vehicles: police
• FOX 32 ChicagoChicago man charged with attempted murder after Kenwood shooting: police