Crime Perception Hurts Jackson Economy | Jackson Free Press | Jackson, MS

Crime Perception Hurts Jackson Economy

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Rickey Thigpen, executive vice president of the Jackson Convention and Visitors Bureau, spoke this morning about the discouraging media portrayal of Jackson.

Jackson misses out on booking conventions because of a false perception that the city has a high crime rate, Rickey Thigpen says. Thigpen, executive vice president of the Jackson Convention and Visitors Bureau, spoke this morning at the Friday Forum gathering at Koinonia Coffee House.

He told the crowd of about 40 people that the perception of crime the media portrays of Jackson discourages organizations from booking conventions here. "Downtown Jackson is one of the safest places in Mississippi," he said. Despite that reality, negative perceptions occur because local media mainly report on crime, and then local residents don't challenge the coverage, he said.

"Don't allow other people to talk about us and be mute," he said. "There are good things that happen in Jackson. Why occasionally can't that be the lead story?" Thigpen said the JCVB board recently met with The Clarion-Ledger editorial board to discuss the ramifications of slanted reporting.

A regional convention of about 1,300 people can generate $800,000, Thigpen said. He calculates 3.14 million people visited Jackson last year and spent $315 million here. "That represents 20,000 jobs. Tourism is nice, but it's also economic development," he said.

The JVCB is a quasi-governmental agency and an official destination marketing organization with a $3-million annual budget. Thigpen calls the return on the state's investment "tremendous."

Marika Cackett, JVCB communications and public relations manager, said 80 percent of her job is 300 miles outside of Jackson and that 20 percent of it is inside those 300 miles.

"If we don't love a product here, it's a problem. That 20 percent is everything," Cackett said. Outside media are interested in Jackson and want to visit here. She said international reporters come to the city every week -- recently one from as far away as Malaysia came to write about the Freedom Riders 50th anniversary. This week, she is getting calls from all over the nation from reporters wanting to write stories about the movie "The Help" and present-day Jackson. Cackett even has a "The Help" tour she can take them on to sightsee spots mentioned or shown in the movie.

Perceptions at home are harder to crack. Cackett shared the story of one hotel worker who told visiting conventioneers, "I don't know why you're staying down here." Cackett said the JCVB has customer-service training classes to educate people who work in hospitality how to be welcoming, friendly and supportive so the visitors don't go home and tell all their friends and co-workers about the mean people they met in Jackson.

One way to get the positive news in the mainstream media is to talk about the economic impact of visitors to the city, she said. Jackson State University football games bring in about $13 million, for instance.

Thigpen, who has worked for the JCVB for 24 years, said Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. is considering a media tour of Jackson, not for the international and national reporters, but for Mississippi reporters. If that happens, it will be after Oct. 1 when JCVB's fiscal year starts.

"We have to be the voice," Thigpen said. "We have to fix the problems."

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