[Editorial]  It’s Up to Us to ‘Rebrand’ City

July 20, 2011

This week, in preparation for our big Jackpedia student/newcomer guide in August, we asked Facebook friends to share the city's "best-kept secrets" to include them in Jackpedia (and at http://www.jackpedia.com). One smart aleck responded immediately: "don't leave your keys in your vehicle, nor running in certain areas, be careful, very careful, fasten your seat belt. PRAY!" (sic).

How tired we get of crime sensationalism and obsession, and how much such foolish rhetoric has hurt our city. It has spread for all kinds of reasons, and usually becomes over the top and rampant during campaign seasons—the more local the campaign, the more disgusting it gets. Why? Because too many fool politicos believe that you run for office and become a "leader" by constantly whining about the guy or gal who's in there and talking down the city.

The message, somehow, is supposed to become that the (mayor, supervisor, council member, sheriff, etc.) is the reason that crimes happen. (Yes, the whiners are insulting your intelligence, especially in one of the country's most poverty-ridden, poorly educated states.)

The corporate media then lap it up and spit it back out—leading their papers and newscasts with one crime incident after another, more focused on scaring people into tuning in or subscribing to their rag than in actually being responsible citizens. And they seldom show interest in actual crime trends, causes and context, the understanding of which can help citizens to actually do something about it. Progress, for these folks, is not the priority.

We don't know if you've noticed, but we're headed into one of those horrendous election cycles. Brace yourself, and reject the hype. Tell the candidate to stop complaining about incumbents and answer real questions: "What are you going to do for the city, state or nation? Give me specifics."

Meantime, an effort to "rebrand" Hinds County is coming to fruition this week. We encourage you to attend at least one of the meetings and give your input. In the past, we've criticized some of the frantic hype about U.S. Census figures indicating the "news" that Jackson had lost population in a decade (actually, the news was that population losses had slowed in the last decade, but that's the kind of context that doesn't fit into hysterical frames, so it's ignored).

We hope good things come out of this campaign, and applaud folks like Blake Wallace of the Hinds County Economic Development Authority and Bob Wilson of the Mississippi Main Street Association for their hard work and for keeping the public involved and informed about the meetings. We urge each of you to attend and speak up. (See times and locations on page 7.)

Ultimately, though, the branding of the metro is up to each of us: Call out the negativity, demand better of candidates, and reject media and politicians that hawk the negative.

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