August 26, 2003
MJ Malone almost gets it...
From today’s SP Times, where Mary Jo Melone is ignoring statistics and attempting to prove that violent crime in Tampa is a massive problem:
I sometimes think that the bay area is particularly dangerous.
Then I think that the impression is false, that we are still just small enough that the police disclose to the press some serious crimes that larger police forces, in larger cities, would prosecute, but otherwise ignore.
In other words, I sometimes think that talking about crime is a matter of perception, that the bay area picture isn't nearly as grave as last week indicated.
But last week in Tampa was a whopper.
Last week was one of those reminders to check your reflexes in elevators and parking lots, to make sure the car and house doors are properly locked, to remember that no possession - no car, no wallet, no jewelry - is worth a life, and that, in the face of terror, there is only so much you can do.
She ALMOST gets it. And then she sells out to the hype machine. Her last thought
in the face of terror, there is only so much you can do
completely neutralizes her previous reasonable statements about perception and reality.
Listen: violent crime is ultra-hyped by local media, especially TV. Violent crime makes for good TV and good ratings, so the TV stations naturally hype it. Having a populace which is under the impression that violent crime is a problem is advantageous to government leaders and police departments, as long as the problem isn’t seen as having been allowed to fester uncontrolled by those same leaders and police.
So, TV and other local media play up the incidence of violent crime by running columns like MJ’s, and the populace naturally thinks violent crime is a big problem that must be dealt with. The populace rallies behind their government leaders and the police, seeking protection from the rapists and killers who are lurking behind every corner. Politicians talk tough, police get bigger budgets, civil liberties of poor and minority residents are often trampled, and everyone is happy.
According to statistics, violent crime is down right now, but studies show that regular TV news viewers think that violent crime is up. MJ dredges up a 12 year old case to further skew citizens’ impressions. It was a horrible and violent crime, but this sort of thing simply does not happen every day around here.
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