The media coverage, in this case, brought to the fore the imminent
need for a skating facility for the youths; the facility was ready for
use in the Summer of 1997. This would appear to be the end of any public
concern, albeit, media coverage re-emerged soon after. Goode & Ben-Yehuda
(1994) argued
that “during a ‘Media Panic’ the suspect category is often dusted off
and attacked with a renewed vigour” (Springhall, 1998, p.147). The threat
of skateboarders to law and order, and the safety of the community was
again attacked in 1997 after the park opened. The public outcry was again
that the skaters, now with their own outlet, were using public and private
property and thus posed a threat to the elderly and the young. What the
media failed to report was the the offenders were merely heading towards
their new facility. Perhaps this was an example of a slow news day, brushing
off a pre-conceived notion and brining the issue to the attention of the
community when there was in fact no real need for concern.