THE STIGMATISING of neighbourhoods by the media can have a lasting damaging effect on people from that area, Dr Eoin Devereux, head of the department of sociology at the University of Limerick has told a symposium in Limerick.
“We are all only too aware of the so-called ‘address syndrome’,” Dr Devereaux said.
“There is substantial evidence available from international research which tells us that the stigmatisation of neighbourhoods by the media and others can have real and lasting effects on how residents see themselves and how they are perceived by others.”
Broadcaster and Irish Timescolumnist Vincent Browne, who chaired yesterday's symposium exploring the theme of the role of the media in "stigmatising neighbourhoods", was critical of crime coverage in the media, saying that Shrewsbury Road in Dublin would never be considered in that category because of class bias.
“I would think that per capita certainly, more harm has been done by people on that road [Shrewsbury Road] to this society as a whole than done in any similar road in the country and yet it is never, ever described as a troubled area. It’s a class thing and it’s a class bias,” Browne said.
Browne claimed RTÉ was fixated with crime.
He said the national broadcaster had a social responsibility “to portray our society properly”.
The TV3 presenter was equally critical of some of the crime coverage by his current employer.
“TV3 wouldn’t be immune from my criticism about crime but the agenda is set largely by RTÉ. RTÉ got €1 billion from the public in subsidy in the last six years and it has a special social responsibility to portray our society properly and to tell their viewers and their listeners fairly what is happening in our society, and in respect of crime in my opinion it noticeably fails to do that,” he said.
“The phenomena of crime is misrepresented by RTÉ, the national broadcaster, to a very large extent.”
He went on: “The complexities of the crime figures are ignored and the unreliability of crime figures, especially in regard to sex crimes and drug crimes, is never communicated, the reliability is never communicated.”
The conference was organised by the University of Limerick’s department of sociology and the Institute for the Study of Knowledge in Society.
The event, held at West End Youth Centre in Ballinacurra Weston, examined evidence from local national and international settings, including Moyross in Limerick, Fatima Mansions in Dublin, and other examples from Utrecht and Australia.