ABSTRACT
The media are highly influential on the development of public discourse regarding topical issues such as ethnic diversity. Their freedom of speech is a pillar of democracy, but this entails rights as well as responsibilities. Mass media narratives, which have criminalized a purportedly destructive population for decades, rationalize and justify racist ideology, prevent equality and justice from taking over, and entertain a culture of resistance. The main problem is certainly that the media use shortcuts and ignore structural inequalities, or the push and pull factors which propel young people into violence. Very interestingly, the 1985 urban riot phenomenon, which principally took place in Birmingham and then spread to London, bears an uncanny resemblance to that of the 'gang' in terms of nature and of how it has been dealt with by the media and governments.
