The Coward Punch and Media Pressure

Has society become more violent? Kings cross is of course so much more violent and dangerous than it was back in the ‘80’s when it was notoriously run by bikies and drug king-pins. Yet now more than ever, not only does Kings Cross seem to draw more attention than most suburbs within Sydney’s greater metropolitan district, but it is also the focus of a major movement to restrict the late night activities of not just Sydney siders, but of all those living and present within NSW.

''It's the police that rolled over. They were the weak ones. They gave everyone up.'' They were ''dobbing each other in like sucky kids at Sunday school''[1]

The new policies concerning the notorious “one-punch policies”[2] now in place in NSW, as well as curfews[3] recently placed upon establishments serving alcohol after hours demonstrate the immediate effect of fear mongering by social media.

The over exposure of the deaths of teenagers in the cross were used as a tool to produce mass fear in the lives of those who indulged in night time activities within Kings Cross. The first newspaper articles to report on this event focussed solely on the event of an eighteen year old focussed solely on statements such as:

"A positive change needs to come from such a negative situation.

"We would like 'coward punches' to be a thing of the past.

"People have the right to go out without experiencing mindless violence."[4]

With complete disregard to elements of the story which did not appear to capture the sympathetic audience.

The court was told McNeil allegedly told police Mr Gill and Mr Flynn approached him over the purchase of drugs and he became protective of his partner. He said he was not drunk and alcohol did not affect his judgment.[5] 

This is not to dismiss the situation of the victim’s situation, but it is to acknowledge that there is rarely a one sided situation. Research has shown that media tends to choose cases for publication which present variation with the statistical norm.[6] The occurrences of deaths due to one-punch killings in Australia are recorded as being only 90 deaths since 2000 for the entire country.[7] Which means that over the last 14 years each state/territory has had approximately 0.91836 deaths per year from king-hit related violence. The statistical evidence for this would mean that events such as the one punch killings, which have allegedly plagued Kings Cross, are a social irregularity which has been acted upon with haste.

Notorious location for alcohol-fuelled violence: Kings Cross. Photo: Steve Lunam

http://www.smh.com.au/national/90-killed-in-singlepunch-assaults-since-2000-20131201-2yjtr.html#ixzz33pQ6LiH7

Driving this haste in legislation change is the media posting images like this within its articles. The use of language such as “notorious” and the image of a victim to some ailment, which is assumed to be alcohol related violence, being carted away triggers the emotional reaction which not only sells newspapers but insights fear for change.  

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[1] Jacobsen, G. (2010). Good crims, bad crims in the Cross. Available:http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/good-crims-bad-crims-in-the-cross-20100404-rlsf.html. Last Accessed Date:2/06/2014.

[2] NSW Government (2014). One Punch Can Ruin Lives. Available:http://www.nsw.gov.au/onepunch. Last Accessed Date:2/06/2014.

[3] NSW Government (2014). New Alcohol Laws. Available:http://www.nsw.gov.au/newlaws. Last Accessed Date:2/06/2014.

[4] ABC (2014). Daniel Christie death: Shaun McNeil charged with murder over New Year's Eve assault. Available:http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-13/shaun-mcneil-murder-charge-one-punch-death-daniel-christie/5197764. Last Accessed Date:2/06/2014.

[5] Danks, K (2014). Bashing victim Daniel Christie's family speaks out: believes 'king hit' is more like 'coward's punch'. Available:http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/bashing-victim-daniel-christies-family-speaks-out-believes-king-hit-is-more-like-cowards-punch/story-fni0cx12-1226793349087. Last Accessed Date:2/06/2014.

[6] Sorenson, S. B. & Peterson, J. G. (1998).News Media Coverage and Epidemiology of Homicide. American Journal of Public Health. 88(10), 1514.

[7] Dow, A. (2013). 90 killed in single-punch assaults since 2000. Available:http://www.smh.com.au/national/90-killed-in-singlepunch-assaults-since-2000-20131201-2yjtr.html. Last Accessed Date:2/06/2014.