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Recently in Salon Media

Alt
Girls will be jocks
At last, coverage of women's sports that even this non-spectator can appreciate. Plus: One writer's plaintive cry: "Enough with the sex, dammit!"
By Jenn Shreve
[11/05/99]

Media
"None of us are hip"
An interview with Allan Siegal, language czar of the New York Times and editor of its new style and usage guide.
By Susan Lehman
[11/05/99]

Media
Chinese take-out
Accusing the New York Times of a hit piece, Brill's Content does one of its own.
By Sean Elder
[11/01/99]

Alt
Bye-bye beatnik
Two unusual takes on Jack Kerouac's death and legacy. Plus: Viagra raves, zines that shouldn't exist and real-life Halloween scares.
By Jenn Shreve
[10/29/99]

Media
O.J.'s "I Found JonBenet!" and other upcoming St. Martin's titles
After the unexpected P.R. bonanza of J.H. Hatfield's Bush bio, the imprint reveals its fall lineup.
By Sean Elder
[10/21/99]

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"Is It Time to Pull the Thug?" by Michael Kiefer

The entertainment media have imported urban gang culture -- slogans, clothing, even violence -- to the United States' most isolated, sleepy suburbs. Now, argues Michael Kiefer in this provocative essay, it is time for the media to use its powers of persuasion to combat gang-related violence occurring in neighborhoods where there are no air-conditioned shopping malls.

Kiefer points to the many expressions of gang culture in white suburbs as proof of MTV's and other media's success in packaging and selling the deadly lifestyle: pop songs with lyrics about murder, pants with pockets for ammo sold at J.C. Penney, gang slogans appearing on T-shirts and ski caps. It's a fascinating analysis of mall fashion statements and their origins.

Of course, despite a few well-publicized exceptions, suburban teens are not killing each other with the frequency that inner city children are. Gangster style may have been a successful import, but the accompanying violence seems to have, for the most part, stayed put. More likely, these teens relate to this violent, outsider imagery because it fills them with a sense of power as they begin the arduous task of asserting their independence from parental authority. Harmless teenage rebellion.

To Kiefer, however, this cosmetic imitation of gang culture among white teens is not harmless. "Even as the neighborhoods that give rise to gangs are left to wither by the establishment and their denizens relegated to the underclass ... Their values and art forms are aped by the moneyed and the middle class. Viewed from a safe suburban distance, the ghetto and the barrio are places of wisdom and cool, of toughness and 'street smarts,'" Kiefer argues. "The media legitimizes gangs to the extent that they may more readily develop," he goes on to say, and points to parallel rises in gang violence and gang-related entertainment for proof.

This oversimplified analysis of statistical information is the most egregious flaw in Kiefer's examination. Unfortunately, it's the crux of his final and most compelling point: The media have made gang culture (hence, gang violence) culturally acceptable, he argues. Now, they have a responsibility to use their skills to combat those messages -- and with weapons more powerful than half-assed, unsophisticated public-service announcements.

I agree that the media should be using its talents to promote something other than violent and sexist propaganda. But Kiefer is confusing the spread of gang culture to affluent suburbs with the rise in gang violence in inner-city neighborhoods. These are two separate problems with entirely different causes. You can reasonably point your finger at the media for the former, but need to examine complicated economic, sociological and psychological factors to understand and try to fix the latter.

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Minneapolis/St. Paul City Pages, Nov. 10-16

"Where Others Fear to Tread" by David Schimke

Highlighting another method of combating gang crime and violence, reporter David Schimke walks the streets with V.J. Smith, "a burly 44-year-old urban missionary," who was recently presented the Ameritech Award of Excellence in Crime Prevention by U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno. Smith is a member of MAD DADS (Men Against Destruction/Defending Against Drugs and Social-disorder). Street corner by street corner, teenager by teenager, Smith is attempting to urge at-risk youngsters toward a better future, though based on the biographical material Schimke provides, Smith's quest seems as much about fighting his own demons as it is about stopping crime on the streets.

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