Media: A Conduit for City PR

An interesting paragraph in an otherwise pedestrian news story about a death resulting from a fight.

The Journal Gazette provides a good rework of the Media Release from the Fort Wayne Police Department surrounding a fight in a house on Gladstone Drive around suppertime on Saturday. 

It's a good story until one curious paragraph shows up toward the end of the article. 

One line, in particular seems to jump forward. "gang activity is not suspected in the death....." 

Uh, let's see. It was a fight, in a home, during daylight hours. Sure, it took place on the media's favorite side of town, the South side, but absent any gun play, the time of day, and the fact that the fight took place indoors, one has to wonder why the Police were so insistent that the "no gang activity" be mentioned in the Media Release, and the news article. 

The Maven wonders if the City is wanting to send a message to a concerned citizenry that our little town has not been taken over by thugs and hoodlums. Perhaps the record murder rate last year, and the more recent spate of bar shootings (and subsequent death of an innocent teenager) are beginning to wear thin with an already wary populous. 

Also, the addition of the new, un-monitorable police radio system virtually guarantees the police can work undisturbed in a veritable "cone of silence" without any citizen oversight. That can't do much to instill confidence in the "facts" the taxpayers get from the media, since the City is the only source for information on crimes and (here comes the G word, again) gang activity. 

A nice, tightly controlled setup, no?