Why Does the Media Have an Obsession with Chicago Violence? (Wilmington: low crime, house)

[Opin_Yunated]

I'm not an Illinois resident, but I've been in the city many times. Every time an "active" weekend for homicides happens in Chicago, I see it on the national news. Everyone I know balks when I say Chicago is one of the coolest cities we have in the country. They say ".. yea but the crime is awful."

Funny, statistics have Chicago not even in the top 10. I never hear of shootings on the national news for Detroit or Philadelphia, which are far worse. I lived in the Philly Metro for 5 years, and multiple homicides were weekly in Philly, Camden, and Wilmington. Most rustblet cities fair similarly in crime to Chicago (Cleveland, Buffalo, Rochester, Milwaukee)

[oakparkdude]

Because Obama is from Chicago. And also because until recently, Illinois was the only state to ban concealed carry.

[marothisu]

IMO - the knowledge of gun control laws and the fact that Chicago is where Obama calls home. These are easy targets. I don't remember seeing Chicago as much in the news about this stuff in the ealry 90s when the homicide rate was over double of what it is today. I think that when Obama is no longer President, the media will stop paying attention to it as much, but may still do it because of the strict gun laws in the city.

[squirrels]

It's just the media's flavor of the month. They make it sound like you're dodging bullets anytime you step outside your house and that's the Chicago that nonresidents learn about. It makes for catchy headlines but people will get bored with it and a year from now they'll be on something else.

[Opin_Yunated]

Gun control has little effect on urban violence IMO. NYC has banned guns and low crime rates, but some cities with lower crime rates don't ban guns. The problem is poverty and housing.

[rzzz]

because Chicago is america's 3rd largest city
It's an important place that a lot of people can trace back to, especially white midwesterners and african americans.
It's also a real city that people everywhere can identify with, the lake, the skyline, former sports dynasties, big time celebrities, etc.

Nobody cares about buffalo or even know where camden or wilmington are

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Opin_Yunated

Gun control has little effect on urban violence IMO. NYC has banned guns and low crime rates, but some cities with lower crime rates don't ban guns. The problem is poverty and housing.

That's not the point of why I personally brought this up. The point is that Chicago has strict gun laws and the media loves the fact that it's not working to plan. And you know, also Obama.

[Ace_TX]

because news generally cover murders and shht like that

chicago seems to have alot of it... if noone said anything about it you would say the news media was "racist" for not covering the amount of crime

you ever watch your local 4-5-6-10 o'clock news?

if the murders would slow down there would be nothing to cover

[lenniel]

because no matter where you're from, when you hear that 82 people were shot in a single weekend (granted, it was a 3 day weekend), it gets your attention.

Anyone know what NYC and LA's numbers of shootings were for the same 3 days?

[jwaiter]

Originally Posted by Ace_TX

if the murders would slow down there would be nothing to cover

Um, no.