Media slammed for crime coverage
Some say media sensationalizing problem

by Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

NNSL (Sep 26/97) - An alderman and a senior member of the Yellowknife RCMP detachment said at a committee meeting yesterday that Yellowknifer is blowing the city's crime problem out of proportion.

Ald. Vi Beck, at a meeting Tuesday to deal with the possibility of instituting a curfew, said the media should be playing a more positive role in stemming crime.

"For example, the Yellowknifer used a page and a half to tell the story of the Rocher fire," said Beck. The story telling of the arrest of a man suspected of setting the fire was only a fraction of the size, she said.

Approximately 20 minutes of a meeting earlier this month of the Law Enforcement Advocacy Program (LEAP), RCMP and various community organizations was spent criticizing Yellowknifer's crime coverage.

Some representatives accused the paper of sensationalizing local crime. Others said the paper should focus more on positive issues.

RCMP Staff Sgt. Dave Grundy was the only person at the meeting who spoke in defence of the lone media representative attending, a Yellowknifer reporter.

But at Tuesday's committee meeting, Grundy delivered his own criticism of crime reporting.

"The media was very quick to report the initial offences," said Grundy, speaking of a string of assaults committed by youth this summer. "However, it didn't put in that everyone involved has been arrested."

Grundy went on to say that, overall, fewer crimes have been committed in the city this year compared with the same time last year. He acknowledged that statistics tell only part of the story, that many crimes go unreported.

While crime in general is down, RCMP stats show the number of assaults and sexual assaults are up.

A recent city staff report said the issue of a youth curfew arose as a result of "a perceived increase in youth violence and vandalism in recent months."

Mayor Dave Lovell said it's more than a perception.

"I think it's real," said Lovell in a recent interview. "The big difference now is the attitude. Before when a guy got picked up they were a little bit scared. Now there isn't any fear of the consequences."