It's natural to want to get the media involved when you think an injustice has been done, but the effect the media attention has on your community is really scary! It's very unsettling when the media attention is on your city. Yes it's good to focus attention to make sure justice is done. The media also whips people up into crazy behavior. The St. Louis area is weird because it's one metro area (eighth largest in the US) divided into hundreds of small cities. So the media referring to Ferguson as a small town is not accurate. It's a small city which is an inner ring suburb of a city that is the center of a very large metro area. The media is putting everyone in this metro area in danger and on the news it's reported that gun sales are way up and I understand why, I may get one myself. I have an art show in the city tomorrow night. I'm considering leaving before it gets dark even though it's supposed to last until 1 am, or not going at all, I really don't feel like getting shot or having my Jeep torched. On the one hand, I'm a big believer in business as usual, on the other hand is it worth it? This art show is supposed to help revitalize the city, I understand those who say why bother? Whatever hard work you do toward this goal will just be undone. When this is going on in your own city it really changes how you think about things.
