Majority Of South And West Siders Feel Chicago Media Too Negative About Their Neighborhoods

    South- and west-siders are more likely to find news coverage of their     neighborhoods lacking. North-siders, meanwhile, tend to think local news     outlets are doing an OK job. That’s according to a recent survey that asked 900 Chicagoans about where     they get their local news and about their attitudes toward the coverage. The study was conducted by the University of Texas at Austin’s Center for Media Engagement and funded by the Robert R. McCormick Foundation. 


    When asked about how well local media use sources in their neighborhoods,     half of west-side respondents said that news stories “quote the wrong     people” when covering their neighborhoods. More than 40 percent of     south-siders said the same, while just about a quarter of north-side     respondents shared that perception.


       “If I’m gonna be happy about my life, I can’t read     Chicago press,” Ford says. “I’m a native Chicagoan and     all of a sudden we’re ghetto trash. My neighborhoods have never     looked bad—but, God, when I read the paper I’m scared to death.”