July 15th, 2008 by Mark Hanson
Knife crime is a great media story. Like all the best stories it really plays to our base instincts. It has knife-wielding villains, death tolls, scapegoats, police sirens and grief-stricken families. Make no mistake, the issue of young people killing each other is a grave issue and needs to be addressed.
But its nigh impossible to do this when the whole issue is debated via the newspapers and 24 hour news channels within the prism of 300 words, with aggressive headline, soundbites for and against and neat, quick solutions. The media and opposition are right to criticise knife-crime solutions that have been thought up over the weekend in response to three more killings. But the clamour and panic stirred up by the same media demands urgent, quick ‘eye-catching initiatives’.
The issues that underpin the knife crime problem existed long before the press started writing about it and will need long term decisions to deal with it. The kinds of decisions that need time to think through, be debated and have all interested parties sign up to. Then they need to be implemented over a long period of time.
Its impossible to find solutions that society signs up to if we pretend hugely complex and troubling issues can be solved over the weekend. The government shouldn’t play this game but equally the press shouldn’t ask them to. They shouldn’t demand 5-point plans and then even worse, ridicule them when they arrive! I’ve decided I won’t comment on the Ray Lewis soap opera but you know what I’m getting at:)
PS What happened to gun crime, street crime, binge drinking, even date rape? Have they been solved?
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, July 15th, 2008 at 11:07 am and is filed under General PR.
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