Stop making criminals famous

THE EDITOR, Sir:

What can the business community do to bring down crime? This question was posed to the public by a certain media house recently. I will now pose my question: Can media houses help bring down crime? My response is yes, they can.

In a recent discussion with some members of the business community, disgust was expressed over the constant headlines about crime and criminal activities. Many of these business people, parents, and some educators, have opted to keep their families from watching, reading, and listening to the news. Why? The reason given for this stance is that many of them say reading, or listening to, or watching the news has caused persons to lose hope and has created fear.

Many have nightmares after hearing or watching the news. This is what marketing crime has been doing.

When media highlight gunmen, these criminals get famous and that's what they want. This was confirmed to me by a friend who heard of a gunman bragging about how his picture would reach the front page or news headlines and how he would be known by the world in his death. Media houses, if this is the reason for giving these gunmen so much prime time and space, then you have succeeded.

CC

Montego Bay