04-12-2010/UPDATE: 04-15-2010 KC STAR CRITICIZED FOR COVERAGE; POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WERE PLAZA RIOTERS PART OF FLASH MOB? KCMO-710 AM morning talk show host Chris Stigall says what happened Saturday night on the Plaza in Kansas City with a group of unruly youngsters who had to be pepper sprayed should be called a "Flash Mob," a phenomena that is occurring more frequently in major cities. What started off as fun "artsy" kind of instant "mobs" of dancers and such (see Seattle group or Hammertime), has grown into quick forming mobs such as one that turned ugly on the Plaza. Access to mobile phones, text messages, Facebook and Twitter accounts make it easy for groups to organize quickly. KC's Power & Light District has a strict dress code that thwarts the formation of flash mobs, but areas such as Westport and the Plaza are easy targets. It is ridiculous for the media in Kansas City to try and focus on this strictly as a racial issue for ratings," said Stigall. In Philadelphia youngsters are using "Twitter" to send quick messages to each other to gather on the city's South Street. "Inspired by Twitter messages to "come to South Street," police say hundreds - business owners say thousands - of young teens stampeded down South Street in waves, jumping on top of cars, knocking over pedestrians and fighting and cursing," reported the Philadelphia Daily News (LINK) "It was like a tsunami wave," said a store employee. "The cops were overwhelmed," said a store manager. The Kansas City Star is being criticized for a major lapse in news judgment by barely covering the "unruly youths" in its print edition, particularly in its Monday (4/12) edition where the story was barely mentioned. The newspaper also conveniently refused to mention the racial profile of the rioters. Veteran Star Reporter Tony Rizzo told a story (4/11) that seemed to downplay the incident: "Otavio Silva, the husband of Kansas City Star reporter Jill Silva, said he received a face full of pepper spray while he and his dinner party were walking behind a large group of young people. "Silva said the youths were walking down the sidewalk and he hadn’t witnessed them misbehaving when a police car pulled up and officers told them to “move on” before unleashing a blast of the chemical spray." A caller to Stigall's show (4/15) correctly pointed out that Rizzo's son, Jesse, was cited for disorderly conduct for throwing beer on KC Police Chief James Corwin last year during the city's Irish Festival (Link to Tony Botello story). On the Star's Web site Christine Vendel finally reported (4/12) on the seriousness of the situation. It is the most-read story on the site, which further highlights the paper's poor news judgment. "The Star's lack of coverage was simply ridiculous," said KMBZ-980 AM talker Darla Jaye, who noted that a riot of smaller proportions occurred a week earlier and was not even reported by the media.
04-12-2010
STAR COVERAGE NOT SURPRISING... "Hardly surprising the Star did not cover the story. Even those who did still failed to adequately describe the size of the mob. Only after reading Police Chief Corwins blog did I know that the mob numbered approximately 700! These are serious numbers and over double what was reported by local TV stations. "The local media has a long history of under reporting on crime on the Plaza. While this is changing a bit, apparently it's not changed enough. "Yet another example of why this news hound no longer subscribes to the Star. I don't even miss it. What would I miss? Not much." ----Gary Foster, Mission KS
04-13-2010 P & L NOT IMMUNE "Only one issue. Don't think that a dress code keeps P&L or rather the area just outside of it immune to a flash mob. They gather on or in the streets. They don't seek entrance to establishments and you can't screen people out of the public street with a dress code. "So the best thing the police can do is step up patrols in all entertainment areas and have school resource offices keep their ears open and close eye on Facebook."
04-14-2010 CROWD ESTIMATE "If the estimated number of 700 “youth” was arrived at by the same methods they used to employ to arrive at the number of people that attend the Thanksgiving lighting ceremony on the Plaza, then you can bet there were no more than 35 kids there. I’m just saying…" -pepe
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