The point of journalism is to tell people the truth! If the population and political leaders are panicking about something that isn't happening, your job as a reporter is to loudly debunk it — not plead with the other party to join the panic.
"but crime is a real issue, people are worried about crime and you have to take that seriously"
No you don't! If people are getting more scared about crime while crime is happening less frequently, it's a made up issue and you should make a point of yelling that all the time
