Journal of African Interdisciplinary Studies (JAIS) ISSN 2523-6725 (online) Volume 2, Number 5, May 2018, pages 18 - 28 18 Priming and Framing Televised Crime News Determine Audience Perceptions of Crime: A case of Nakuru Town Residents By Lydia A. Mareri; Julius Bosire; Dishon Kweya; and George Mose Abstract Most television newscasts often relay crime stories with detailed descriptions and vivid images. Literally, the media set the agenda of what the audience should pay attention to and think about by selecting crime stories. The audiences are however not usually told how to think about those selected stories. This could mean that the degree to which exposure to televised crime news stories influences audience perception about crime is not explicit and therefore not clear. This study aimed at documenting audience perception of prevalent crime topics in televised news content, in order to infer the priming and framing tendencies of such news. This article presents results obtained from a qualitative study undertaken in Milimani geographical area of Nakuru town. The study was guided by McCombs and Shaw’s Agenda Setting and Gerbner’s Media Effects theories to collect and analyze data. The population comprised all categories of people residing, working or learning within Milimani area of Nakuru town. The total sample was 30 participants. The results show that audience perceive terror attacks, murder, carjacking, sexual violence, burglary, street muggings, violent robbery and abductions as prevalent crime topics in televised news in Kenya. The participants however indicated that the agenda setting dimensions of priming and framing, which have been described as having strong sociological roots, determined how such news topics are selected and relayed in televised crime news. This is an indicator that priming and framing is utilized in the preparation and presentation of televised crime news, which in turn determine the amount of audience following and focusing. Consequently, this affirms the influence of televised news bulletins on audience perception of social issues, and in the process, they influence the audience with what to think about because of the emotions they evoke. Key words: Televised Crime News; Priming; Framing; Audience Perceptions Introduction Crime activity is a global phenomenon that manifests in various forms and at different levels of magnitude. The world over, nations are grappling with crime menace that has left many governments strategizing how to contain it. Whereas crime in itself is not a new phenomenon, it is the diverse and changing strategies that criminals employ which pose great concern for many. However, the reality of crime as a potentially everyday phenomenon in our lives is taken a notch higher by the way media content determines the aspects that the audience focuses on since information that people receive about criminal activities is obtained through the various media outlets. The extent of the influence of media is captured in the assertion by Han Er (2014) that since the early 1920s, researchers have tried to shed light on the question of the media and its power. He adds that initial debates questioning the power of the media to influence behavior of the consumers as well as the extent to which it can lend itself to a variety of uses has surfaced through the works of many psychology scholars, who have indicated that there is a high dependency on the media for information, which plays a great role in altering behaviors, feelings and attitude (Ball-Rokeach & DeFleur, 1976). Today, the media still has immense influence on its audiences although it does not only rely on propaganda techniques as commonly misconceived. Instead, it interrogates