Skaters: a moral panic issue


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.
 

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