Dishonesty by Omission: Anderson et al. on the Introduction of TV in the USA

"The Influence of Media Violence on Youth" is a long review paper by Craig A. Anderson and seven co-authors published in the 2003 Psychological Research in the Public Interest. Here's from the paper's lengthy "summary":

Research on violent television and films, video games, and music reveals unequivocal evidence that media violence increases the likelihood of aggressive and violent behavior in both immediate and long-term contexts. The effects appear larger for milder than for more severe forms of aggression, but the effects on severe forms of violence are also substantial (r = .13 to .32) when compared with effects of other
violence risk factors or medical effects deemed important by the medical community (e.g., effect of aspirin on heart attacks). The research base is large; diverse in methods, samples, and media genres; and consistent in overall findings. The evidence
is clearest within the most extensively researched domain, television and film violence. The growing body of video-game research yields essentially the same conclusions.

Short-term exposure increases the likelihood of physically and verbally aggressive behavior, aggressive thoughts, and aggressive emotions. Recent large-scale longitudinal studies provide converging evidence linking frequent exposure to violent
media in childhood with aggression later in life, including physical assaults and spouse abuse. Because extremely violent criminal behaviors (e.g., forcible rape, aggravated assault, homicide) are rare, new longitudinal studies with larger samples are needed to estimate accurately how much habitual childhood exposure to media violence increases the risk for extreme violence.

Among many other papers, they discuss "Impact of the introduction of television on crime in the United States: Empirical findings and theoretical implications" by Karen M. Hennigan et al. (1982). From the Anderson article:

Hennigan et al. (1982) reported that rates of larceny went up more in American cities in which TV was introduced than in comparable American cities in which TV was not yet available. Again, caution is required in interpreting these results, because there is no way to know what aspect of TV might be responsible (e.g., rising consumer desires promoted by commercials might lead to increases in stealing).

That is all Anderson et al. say about the Hennigan et al. paper. But wait, I've read that paper! Didn't they have something to say about violence? Yes, indeed:

Examined the causal impact of the introduction of TV on FBI indicators of violent crime, burglary, auto theft, and larceny, using an interrupted time-series design with switching replications. No consistent effect of TV's introduction was observed for violent crimes, burglary, or auto theft. However, the introduction of TV was consistently associated with increases in larceny, irrespective of whether it was introduced in 1951 or 1955, or whether state- or city-level data were examined.

The emphasis is mine; apart from that, I'll let you draw your own conclusions.