Neighborhood News

Does a lack of neighborhood specificity in the media suppress Tacoma’s image revitalization?

A few years ago we had a party at my apartment on Yakima Avenue. When I invited a co-worker that lives in Seattle about the event he asked, “Is it safe?” When I questioned the question he commented on news reports about crime in Tacoma. I reassured him that the specific incidents mentioned were miles and miles away and promptly forgot about it.

Over the years I’ve noticed a lack of detail in stories about Tacoma coming from Seattle papers and television news. There will be stories about murders, drugs, arrests, whatever and the location detail will simply be “Tacoma.” A similar story on Seattle would say the neighborhood as part of the story – Wallingford, Fremont, South Park, University District, etc.

My theory is that by not using the names of neighborhoods in news stories the entire city suffers from any coverage. The next time you see a story from a Seattle news outlet about something in Tacoma, take note of where it is that it happened. Sometimes the report will give you an address or cross streets. Sometimes it won’t. Take note and tell me what you find. When I have some time I’d like to actually do a little research on the topic and see if there’s truly a significant difference in coverage.

Do other shadow cities have this problem?