Every effort should be made to explore or challenge presupposed narratives that can leave most murders as categorized as “gang-related” both with respect to the perpetrator and the victim. Though the evidence is clear that most of Chicago’s murders occur in the city’s poorest—and therefore most gang-fertile—neighborhoods, that doesn’t necessarily say anything specific about the victim. Covering murder victims for the last several months for DNAinfo.com, I’ve talked to families of victims that were as genuinely innocent as Hadiya was as well as those of victims who were hardened gangbangers. Most of the victims I write about fell somewhere in between.
By recognizing that there is a spectrum of victims, coverage of murder rates becomes more powerful and nuanced. No, not every victim will be as compelling as Hadiya or the six year olds at Sandy Hook Elementary School, but by striving to treat all victims as human, journalists and their audiences may well seek out further information on social, economic, and other factors that play directly into the numbers of violence. And those results would be a good first step in changing the homicide numbers.
I take issue with many things about this article.
I do not recommend media companies pick and choose which gun-violence victims they want to sell for stories. That is the gripe I've had with recent Pendleton coverage. Despite stats showing dozens of local children falling victim to gun violence, the lighter skinned, pretty smart girl who performed for Barack Obama became the most sell-able to the public. The lesson to be learned is that the coverage given to the Pendleton case should be extended to all cases--not just the ones with a pretty face.
I also disagree with your horrible generalizations about Chicago and its socio-demographics, which play into delusive stereotypes about the city's layout, and about poverty and crime in general. Putting aside the fact that boundaries are socially constructed, the so called "North Side" is NOT "wealthier" compared to the " poorer, mostly minority South and West sides" as you carelessly refer to them.
Chicago's so-called "West Side" IS on the North Side. Meanwhile, the gun violence and gang troubles on the "South Side" come primarily from specific neighborhoods that are riddled with gangs--specifically Englewood, Roseland and a couple others. Your statement inplies that ALL or even most of the South Side struggles with these issues when in fact, excluding the above neighborhoods, the South Side is perhaps just as middle class as the neighborhoods on the North Side, even excluding the West Side, while the North Side has just as many problematic spots and areas as the South, including Uptown and Rogers Park. The problem is that reports like this continue to blatantly ignore these truths in order to polarize the city and sell a tale--the problem I see with this article and with recent coverage of Hadiya Pendleton.
#1 Posted by Chicago Journalist, CJR on Wed 20 Feb 2013 at 01:19 PM
I should clarify that I agree that all violence cases should be covered like Pendleton's but that the media's recent handling of her story should not be applauded, because of the reasons why the media chose to cover it and ignore the others.
#2 Posted by Chicago Journalist, CJR on Wed 20 Feb 2013 at 01:27 PM