Inside the gang
We intended to have Joe Killian's backstory on gangs posted with the front page story we published this morning. Thing is, the story was being worked on through yesterday, and Joe just couldn't get to it. He's away from any online access today, so it will need to wait until tomorrow. I'll link to it as soon as we get it.
Like any good journalist, Joe immersed himself in this story, even as we gave him other assignments. He worried about the colors of clothes he wore when he went out to interview, knowing that the wrong color in the wrong place could spell trouble. He conducted his interviews in daylight only. He always identified himself as a reporter, which didn't help him get an interview. He finally realized he had to promise anonymity to get anyone to talk with him.
He visited the foot bridge over U.S. 29, but wasn't charged a toll to cross. He was told to go away, in harsher words than that. (We cut the gang members' profanity-laced quotes -- and there were a few -- so as not to offend readers who get offended by things like that. We didn't want offensive language to obscure their view of a powerful story.) Joe discovered that gangs in Greensboro have their own YouTube presence.
Joe was concerned that people will think that we had glorified the gang members. Likewise, he wondered if others would think we had unfairly sensationalized the problem. Finally, he was concerned that people in the mentioned housing communities would think we had besmirched their neighborhoods' reputations. My response to all was, "Don't worry about it. Happens with every story that hits home."
His story is a good one. As soon as he files, we'll let you know.
Update: He's filed.
Comments (4)
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Two good stories. Straight reporting (minus the quasi-literary detritus that mars so many such reports), and a thoughtful, persuasive response to the objections (many of which I have) to writing about gangs. Nice work!
Posted on August 28, 2007 1:03 AM
You talk about the gang's in Greensboro and how it is affecting our lives and communities, which is true; but you have not investigated the biggest gangs in Greensboro. That is the city council and Hopeless Six and Housing Authority. What I am saying is this: City Council allowed a gang called Hope Six to come into these low-income communities and convince the tenants that they would revitalize their communities and make them better. People who have been allowed to be taken care of by the state. When the Hope Six Gang came in to so-call help the low-income community, they actually stole these peoples homes and put them in the streets. Well, lets not leave out the Housing Authority Gang, who were suppose to relocate these families temporarily, until their community was re-built. There had to be a head count of all of those people living in the community in order to get a certain amount of the nations tax dollars. What they did was uproot a community of people who have been conditioned to their own environment into some other low-income community were those people were also conditioned for their environment and caused struggle. What I am saying is that when you (state officials and city officials) have conditioned an environment of people of little substance and you take them out of their environment without the necessary skills to survive in other areas, their survival skills kick in and they fight for what they can get to survive. We as a people need to wake up to what the city officials are doing to our community and to our children. When you are in a struggle trying to take care of your family with what little resources you have, and someone else comes in to live with little means, obviously their will be conflict. The gangs are not in the streets, they are sitting in our city's seats. Vote for people who care about the survival of our community as a whole, not for people who are trying to eliminate a group who is financilly challenged. Trust me, you can not stop survival on the street. You must find better people who will use the resources set aside for these particular people and help guide them to success as well, without everyone's cooperation you won't win.
Posted on August 29, 2007 10:03 AM
Dear Mr. Robinson, My name is Wes Daily. I am a retired Detective with the Suffolk County Police Dept. in Suffolk County NY. I am also the founder and executive director emeritus of the East Coast Gang Investigators Association (ECGIA), and pass president of the National Alliance of Gang Investgators. ECGIA has recently formed a NC chapter and Det. E. Cuthbertson is the new chapter president. I have worked with, studied, and written about street gangs since 1988. I was the lead gang invesigator for my department from 1991 to 2003. This is only to say I know a little about gangs. Reading this article, The story behind the story By Joe Killian, Sunday, Aug. 26, 2007 and the other stories on this topic for the first time was rewarding. For sure Joe Lillian got it right. Great story, correct information, good press. Wes Daily, MA, CGP.
Posted on August 29, 2007 8:03 PM
Thank you, Mr. Daily. That's high praise.
Posted on August 29, 2007 8:17 PM