N.C. Raves: Media reactions
Raves, media, and the law : Media reactions (7 of 9)

 

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After the Durham arrests, a Raleigh News & Observer story describing raves as drug parties "struck a real nerve with people," according to the writer. MORE
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Copyright ©1998 Jim Webb. All rights reserved.


Link: Read the N&O's story
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The News & Observer picked up on the story after an article in the Durham Herald-Sun described the arrests. Amanda Garrett, a crime reporter for the N&O, wrote: "most rave-goers are either selling or using methamphetamine or designer drugs like Ecstasy." The story quoted Durham police officer Jack Cates saying that inside the rave, "some [people] were naked, some were having sex."

Garrett and the N&O were deluged with mail from ravers angry at the article, saying it was one-sided and unfair. Garrett admits that Officer Cates and the State Bureau of Investigation were the story's only sources, but that only having two sources for this kind of story -- a "glorified police brief" -- wasn't unusual. The response, however, was. "We write cop stories every day, and this one struck a real nerve with people. All of a sudden, the ethics of reporting police stories was being questioned, though this is how they've always been done." Cates later admitted that the only nudity he saw was a woman without a top, and that he saw no one having sex.

The News & Observer printed several letters to the editor, but Garrett said most of the responses were "just flame e-mail by people who wanted to vent. Most were teed off, and had no interest in discussing the issues." As of July, 1998, no articles on raves have appeared in the N&O since. TOP


Video: WRAL-TV story: "Out All Night"
(Rebroadcast with permission)

A few weeks after the N&O's article, WRAL-TV, a Triangle ABC affiliate, aired a six-minute segment on raves. The story, "Out all night," did not mention the News & Observer's story, but included interviews with partygoers, police, and a parent whose daughter died of a drug overdose. Before filming the piece, WRAL-TV reporter Pam Saulsby sent out word on the internet asking for opinions from ravegoers. Todd Morman invited Saulsby and her camera crew inside a rave to shoot.

The piece was very long by television standards, and addressed many sides of the issue. Morman thinks the rave scene and the media will always be at odds, though. "Even going out all night and dancing to good music until dawn is just freaky for some people,'" says Morman. "How are you going to get [mainstream media] to understand what's happening in your scene?" TOP