Earlier this week WCPO, Cincinnati’s ABC affiliate station, brought to light a statistic published on Walletpop.com, stating that our Over-the-Rhine neighborhood is the “most dangerous in the country.” Walletpop, a personal finance and consumer Web site, found that someone has a 25% chance of falling victim to a dangerous crime in Over-the-Rhine in a one year period, a higher percentage than any other area in the US.
http://www.walletpop.com/insurance/most-dangerous-neighborhoods
After watching the OTR neighborhood make incredible progress in the past five years - with over 20 million in investment, a new School for Creative and Performing Arts, the relocation of The Art Academy to the heart of the district and the opening and success of many new retail establishments, this news felt like a punch to the stomach.
“This can’t be true.” “Why are we punishing ourselves again?” “What good does this do?”
For decades the local nightly news and city newspaper have been filled with scary crime news and tales of woeful bad behavior that make a person feel as if the world is falling apart and they should watch their every step. We all know how devastating this news approach - fueling fear for the sake of profits - has been for our cities.
The alternative in this market and others like Detroit and Pittsburgh has been a pro-development approach that decidedly focuses upon progress, growth and overall “good news” about our city. Cincinnati’s good news media is a Web site called Soapbox:
Soapbox is run by former marketers and public relations professionals closely tied to the business community. There is never a mention of counter views to development such as citizen displacement.
Can there be a balance? Can we tell good stories without omitting the whole story? How can media build our communities up in a way that includes all citizens?
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