Nantina Vgontzas | Crime and coverage in the ‘DP’

In elucidation of various decision points — no, not that DP — outgoing Executive Editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian Rachel Baye wrote, “We aim to tell stories that are both accurate and relevant to Penn — deflating rumors and explaining to readers why the events of the day truly matter” (“Inside the ‘DP’ logic,” 12/3/10).

Unfortunately, in its recent coverage of the Kensington Strangler, the DP failed in both respects, illustrating its problematic approach to local crime.

The front page on Dec. 1 informed students of the recent strangulations of two females and reported sexual assaults of another two (“Phila. killer causes concern,” 12/1/10). It then proceeded with a characteristically unhelpful statement from a Division of Public Safety spokesperson and referenced informal warnings circulated throughout various listservs. In this sense, the chosen headline was quite accurate. It indicated the concern prevalent throughout campus and acknowledged by the editorial staff: there is a killer on the loose, and students should care.

An article published the following day appeared to be a retraction of this acknowledgement (“DPS: Killer doesn’t pose huge risk to Penn community,” 12/2/10). It quoted Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush saying students should not worry about the immediate threat of this case, citing Kensington’s distance from campus. No subsequent details were offered, and the story was dropped. In other words, the killer is actually not that big of a deal.

I beg to differ. There is still a killer on the loose, and we should still care — perhaps not for our own safety but for that of our fellow Philadelphians, who disproportionately deal with the adversities of urban crime. We should wonder why these attacks occurred in Kensington and why more have surfaced since last week. The serial nature of these attacks seems to counter Rush’s qualifier that “one never really knows where incidents like these will crop up.” The DP should have challenged this response if it indeed aims to explain why the events of the day, particularly those on its front page, truly matter.

Luckily, the national press took care of that. Most notably, The Daily Beast presented a comprehensive look into the dangers faced by prostitutes on Kensington Avenue. As it turns out, both of the strangulated victims were prostitutes. The location of their murders was a hub of prostitution.

It seems, then, that these crimes were not simply based on gender — they were targeted at an already stigmatized population that typically fails to evoke much public sympathy. But though their profession may put them in a position of higher risk than normal, the deaths of these women are not any more sensible. And for that reason, we must ask why they were not better protected against these dangers.

It is understandable that a university newspaper primarily addresses its student readers and that stories about crime will revolve around students’ safety. But in maintaining such an exclusive emphasis and — in some cases — perpetuating exaggerated fears while ignoring the societal dynamics of others, we are simply revealing our lack of genuine concern for the various communities that surround us.

If we actually cared, we would be more disturbed by instances like these and would not discard them as inevitabilities of residential segregation — the all-too-common “this is Killadelphia” resignation.

If our intention as consumers of an elite education were to really acquire the tools to better our society, we would come clean about a few ugly double standards. Particularly egregious is the one in which we energetically seek to tackle problems in a practical manner — be it through corporate mergers or nonprofits — but fail to focus our collective pattern of thought to confront the ugliest practicalities of our bifurcated society.

Rush reassured us that Penn is not “that near” to Kensington. I would argue that this problem extends beyond geography.

Nantina Vgontzas is a College senior and Senior Editor of Penn Political Review. Her e-mail address is vgontzas@sas.upenn.edu.

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