The paper assesses the consequences of victimization experience and the crime rate on fear of crime and life satisfaction. It extends the classical fear of crime model by incorporating media use in the link between the crime rate and fear of crime. Based on a nationwide German survey conducted in 2010 it is shown that fear of crime and victimization experiences lower respondents’ life satisfaction. The county crime rate has no significant impact. However, the local crime rate increases fear of crime. This relationship is mediated by the consumption of local newspapers. Readers of such newspapers are more affected by the crime rate, because they have more information on crime trends within their county.