Rick Landre, Mike Miller, and Dee Porter

About the author: Rick Landre is the senior police officer of the Lodi (California) Gang Task Force Unit. Mike Miller is an educator with the California Youth Authority. Dee Porter teaches journalism and leads gang prevention programs. They are the authors of Gangs: A Handbook for Community Awareness.

The media glorifies gang violence through television news coverage, gangster rap and racist music, books, magazine articles, movies, and advertising. Gang members and gang-related violence are often sensationalized and exploited by the media in order to boost viewership and circulation. Gangster rap—a form of hip-hop music—is usually filled with angry and derogatory lyrics that promote violence against women and rival gangsters. Media coverage of notorious rap stars glamorizes the gangsters' lifestyle of violence, drugs, arrests, and promiscuity. Books, television...