Media asked not to identify Kensington Market when reporting on crime in the area

TORONTO – The Kensington Market BIA has suggested news organizations stop referring to the entire neighbourhood when reporting on crime in the area.

A recent attack involving a machete near the intersection of Nassau St. and Bellevue Ave. was widely reported as an incident that had taken place near Kensington Market.

“If something happens at Queen and Pape, for example, it’s not all of Leslieville that gets called out for a crime,” BIA board member Peter Sanagan said. “Crime does happen but we don’t want that to be the focus.”

The concern brought up by the BIA is that crime-related stories involving Kensington Market hurt the reputation of an otherwise good community. A decision was made at the last board meeting to issue a press release with the request.

The idea has been met with criticism with some suggesting through social media that positive news be treated the same way, with no reference to the neighbourhood.

“Hopefully we get some feedback,” Sanagan said. “Positive, maybe some negative too, but the word gets out there and people who know and love Kensington would agree.”

Kensington Market is otherwise well known for being a pedestrian-friendly pocket within the city featuring small businesses including food stands, restaurants and clothing stores.

In 2007, all of Scarborough was battling being labelled negatively in the media when crime stories were being reported in the east end of the city.

A “media protocol” was proposed at City Hall by Scarborough councillors but it was determined that it wasn’t appropriate to issue directives to the media.

Some residents in the neighbourhood surrounding the intersection of Jane Street and Finch Avenue West made the attempt to rebrand that area as ‘University Heights’ in 2009.

The campaign involved banners being erected on signposts but others rejected the idea in an attempt to put a positive spin on Jane-Finch instead.

Those living and working in Kensington Market don’t want others to be scared away by negative press and want them to see the positive things about the neighbourhood that they do.

“It’s great,” Sanagan said. “It’s like the best neighbourhood in the city to shop in, to eat in, to be exposed to all kinds of different cultures and different people.”