NationStates Jolt Archive

Not long ago we had a thread about "knife crime" in the land of the Brits. I pointed out that it could well be media hysteria prompting "Something Must Be Done!!!" syndrome amongst the Politicos.....Possibly in the 'broken clock' way, it turns out that I'm right.....

In London, where the problem is worst, the Metropolitan police figures showed a 16% decrease in "knife enabled" crimes, the survey said.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said the figures amounted to 750,000 fewer victims around the country.

"Crime has fallen by 18%, the chances of becoming a victim of crime is the lowest since 1981," she said.

The figures also showed a record 10% drop in overall crime from the previous year.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jul/17/ukcrime.knifecrime

Nothing anyone with more than void between their ears didn't know.

Recorded crime figures show fall (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7511192.stm)
Crime and reality (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7511758.stm)

The first article sums it up nicely - "However, 65% of people said they thought rates had gone up nationally. But the same proportion again thought crime had fallen locally."

So we have a crowd of people thinking that crime is going up, they just haven't got a clue where.

Not long ago we had a thread about "knife crime" in the land of the Brits. I pointed out that it could well be media hysteria prompting "Something Must Be Done!!!" syndrome amongst the Politicos.....Possibly in the 'broken clock' way, it turns out that I'm right.....


http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jul/17/ukcrime.knifecrime

It's no different than the hysteria surrounding guns here.

A few celebrated, and well-publicized attacks, and everyone is freaking.

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/glance/guncrime.gif

Generally lower, and certainly not as bad as the peak during the Clinton Administration. Considering our population as compared to the point in 1980, and the major increase in guns, it's not the grim picture painted by the press.

Not long ago we had a thread about "knife crime" in the land of the Brits. I pointed out that it could well be media hysteria prompting "Something Must Be Done!!!" syndrome amongst the Politicos.....Possibly in the 'broken clock' way, it turns out that I'm right.....


http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jul/17/ukcrime.knifecrime

they'll start going on about avian flu again next. that was a good scary story that sold papers and got ratings. yeah.

the media's current "zomg recession!11!!" attitude, i'm sure, doesn't help anything either.


this story doesn't surprise me.

they'll start going on about avian flu again next. that was a good scary story that sold papers and got ratings. yeah.

the media's current "zomg recession!11!!" attitude, i'm sure, doesn't help anything either.


this story doesn't surprise me.

the illiteracy of chavs...

the economy tanking...

just give me the page three girls...

they'll start going on about avian flu again next. that was a good scary story that sold papers and got ratings. yeah.


I preferred that. It didn't have that whole 'OMG YOUNG PEEPLE R THE 3BBIL' shite to it. They're no worse than I was 20-25 years ago..apart from the poxy tracksuits and shite music....

Speaking of which... Mock the Week is on tonight :D

That's the media for you. Sensationalist to the max.

Yes the world sucks. But it always seems to limp on regardless.

That's comforting. The media is hard at work (Read: Pulling random crap out of their behinds)

I was going to make a thread based on the recent stories of knife crime - 'twas going to have been along the lines of 'Does the media have too much power?', seeing as the government, for fear of being painted as not caring by the oppostion, is now debating new knife crime laws.

It's ridiculous. There have been something like 20-25 murders involving knives in London this year, when overall in the last year there were 258 (according to the 07/08 BCS). London population = 8 million. UK population = 60 million. So, extrapolating, one would expect approximately...20-25 murders involving knives in London in six months. Naturally, media outrage occurs. I know you can show anything with statistics, but it seems like knife crime is approximately the same as it was last year, and the papers weren't shooting their mouths off about it back then.

Actually, the hysteria isn't necessarily a bad thing. I was listening to something today about how the fear of crime can actually contribute to the fall in crime, as people take more precautions and are careful in what they do.

Essentially, if we had no fear of crime, there would be a lot more crime.

This doesn't surprise me in the least. I can't decide which is worse, the lying media, or the populist demagoguery from government and opposition politicians to try and buy a few votes from it. I can't see what good can come from having a section of the population having an irrational fear from another.

This doesn't surprise me in the least. I can't decide which is worse, the lying media, or the populist demagoguery from government and opposition politicians to try and buy a few votes from it. I can't see what good can come from having a section of the population having an irrational fear from another.
It's all one horrible big positive feedback loop. The most widely read papers scream about how bad it all is, raising fears in the populace that are then jumped on by the politicians (on both sides of the House) who go on to pontificate about these 'huge problems in society'. The press then seize on the rhetoric used by the politicians to scream about how bad it all must be, and so it continues. All this despite the fact that the statistics show crime rates to be consistently falling.

I suspect that in a couple of years time the statistics generated by arrests that have been made as part of the 'anti-knife crime' initiatives in various parts of the country will be trotted out to show that knife crime is on the rise again (since all the arrests will involve knives and will therefore be classified as 'knife crimes').

the hysteria isn't necessarily a bad thing. I was listening to something today about how the fear of crime can actually contribute to the fall in crime, as people take more precautions and are careful in what they do.
A commentator I had the misfortune to hear on the radio today claimed the opposite -- that it was the fear created by the media that was leading more and more people to choose to arm themselves before venturing out on the street.

This doesn't surprise me in the least. I can't decide which is worse, the lying media, or the populist demagoguery from government and opposition politicians to try and buy a few votes from it. I can't see what good can come from having a section of the population having an irrational fear from another.

QFT. Doesn't matter if its young lads, women, lesbians, single mothers, Jews, or Romanians, or some strange conjunction of all of them....

So we have a crowd of people thinking that crime is going up, they just haven't got a clue where.

Milton Keynes. Even I know that.

Milton Keynes. Even I know that.

I think if I had to live in Milton Keynes, I'd be driven to crime.

A commentator I had the misfortune to hear on the radio today claimed the opposite -- that it was the fear created by the media that was leading more and more people to choose to arm themselves before venturing out on the street.

I think that's a brilliant idea, and will lead to lower crime. No one is going to rob you on the street if you're armed. We can look to America as an example of that, and the low violent crime rate they have.


er...hang on...

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/glance/guncrime.gif

Generally lower, and certainly not as bad as the peak during the Clinton Administration. Considering our population as compared to the point in 1980, and the major increase in guns, it's not the grim picture painted by the press.

400,000 crimes? Is that all?

For anyone anti-gun, remember that we need to put those figures in context. Take the UK, for example. If you released the entire prison population and armed them with guns, then released them again, again, then again, before finally releasing them one more time, and you gave the combined total all guns, then there would be more criminals on the streets in the UK with guns than there are crimes committed with guns in the US! Yeah, think about that for a bit.

Honestly, I don't know what all the fuss is about.

I was going to make a thread based on the recent stories of knife crime - 'twas going to have been along the lines of 'Does the media have too much power?', seeing as the government, for fear of being painted as not caring by the oppostion, is now debating new knife crime laws.

It's ridiculous. There have been something like 20-25 murders involving knives in London this year, when overall in the last year there were 258 (according to the 07/08 BCS). London population = 8 million. UK population = 60 million. So, extrapolating, one would expect approximately...20-25 murders involving knives in London in six months. Naturally, media outrage occurs. I know you can show anything with statistics, but it seems like knife crime is approximately the same as it was last year, and the papers weren't shooting their mouths off about it back then.

Yeah I have always thought that this crime epidemic we seem to be under at the mo, has more to do with the wider reporting than the actual crimes.

Yep the mass media do appear to be pulling the gov's strings somewhat.

Yep the mass media do appear to be pulling the gov's strings somewhat.

The last one I was suckered by was the 'Devil dogs' thing a few years back. That resulted in many animals being destroyed, I think, due to the knee-jerk arsehole legislation.

The last one I was suckered by was the 'Devil dogs' thing a few years back. That resulted in many animals being destroyed, I think, due to the knee-jerk arsehole legislation.

Yeah specialy when you realise that ol Satan, is a cat man, umm demon, err fallen angel.

Other people would claim that Satan is more into goats or snakes. That reminds me of the many times that listening to evil music was supposed to be a reason for criminal behaviour according to the hysterical media. It pays to feed the popular biases, just make sure that you target something that's not part of the mainstream culture.

I think the point was more the fact that the age of the victims and criminals involved in the crimes are so disturbingly low.

The BBC told me there were a record number of stabbings this year, why would they lie to me???

That's comforting. The media is hard at work (Read: Pulling random crap out of their behinds)How rude! I for one respect the professional work ethic of our nation's patriotic and heroic journalists.

http://bp3.blogger.com/_T8Kwz9ax2Ew/R7yhMz4OJUI/AAAAAAAABgY/wDT20y6ZF24/s400/hillaryalien.jpg

We can't all read the quality newspapers you're used to, The Infinite Dunes.

Good news :)

Speaking of which... Mock the Week is on tonight :D

Now thats good TV!

Media induced hysteria has gone up by a massive 57% in the last ten years.

Statistics are 1.45 billion percent more accurate than Tuesday.

And tomatoes can cure cancer.

Acually, eating a lot of tomatoes reduces the risk of skin cancer, and it takes longer to burn in the sun.

Acually, eating a lot of tomatoes reduces the risk of skin cancer, and it takes longer to burn in the sun.

Have you been reading the daily mail again?

Yes the world sucks. But it always seems to limp on regardless.

True. But still, it would be fun to also see straight media, you know. People who actually reported what´s really happening.

Being alive raises your chance of dying by 1,000%.