Channel 12 Not On Our Side

The little message below has been sent to Channel 12 and a few zillion other people. It concerns a minor event, and while it bears no specific relation to Poplar Lawn, it does say something about how our city is treated by the media. If we who contribute to this blog, or others, want to kick and scream, bitch and moan to each other about life in Petersburg, that's OUR business. Deep down inside, we are all motivated by a single goal—to make this, our town, our house, better in some way. But when outsiders, especially media outsiders, say something bad about us, either directly, or by implication, then I really get pissed.
Like all Small Market media, Channel 12 is big on self-promotion, general hype, and sensationalizing the most meaningless trivialities. They also manage to make Henrico look like the 7th level of hell, and Petersburg not far behind, not necessarily through facts, but through the way they present the facts. Anyway, what's done is done. But maybe the next time you see their little van parked somewhere, ask them what they're doing in our house, and point them back to that dysfunctional hick town from which they came, where whatever bad they find here can be found a hundred times over.

"Dear Channel 12
Your report last week about purse snatchings and the dangers of holiday shopping was disturbing. Not because of the seasonal crime that always accompanies the holidays, but because you chose to report on the Petersburg incidents from the heart of Old Town, at the height of the Christmas shopping season.

If a robbery is committed in Church Hill, do you go to Stony Point to tell about it? Is an Henrico theft reported from Short Pump? I think not, even though they are all part of Richmond. So why then, when reporting on thefts in the furthest ends of Petersburg do you allow your cameras to scan the safest, most upscale business section of the city? Why interview the police about crime on Old Street, which is far removed from where said crimes were committed. You could have accessed the actual crime scenes just as easily, and the police station is only a block away. Why didn’t you go there?

One has to wonder what channel 12 has against Petersburg. When negative events occur, your crews are quickly on the scene, while the dozens of positive events now occurring regularly are all but ignored.

In this instance your actions reflect either sloppy, insensitive journalism, or an intentional attempt to further denigrate a city that has benefited from, and seen considerable investment and hard work from individual entrepreneurs—not from the government nor from corporations. These private business owners now bring the most to Old Town Petersburg, yet they are the ones to whom you have done the most harm. Your report, which used some of these businesses as the background, at the height of the shopping season, implied that all of Petersburg might be high-risk for shoppers.

Whether this all happened out of long-held prejudices against our city, or simply thoughtless, unprofessional journalism is something you alone can answer. In this instance, you have failed at your fundamental responsibility to present the news without bias. This report left viewers with an impression of Old Town that is completely false.

This has not gone unnoticed by the local business community and we will become ever vigilant and ready to defend ourselves in the face of lies, or negative innuendo, however subtle.

Petersburg is changing. New businesses and real estate sales are booming compared to elsewhere in the region—even as For Rent signs appear in block after block of a once-thriving Cary Street.

Many of us, newcomers from New York, California, Chicago, DC and elsewhere, do not take media condescension lightly. So the next time you do a report in Petersburg, please show a little respect, a little common courtesy. Next time we’ll see you coming."

Jeff Abugel