Very often the east side of Indianapolis bears the brunt of crime reports and issues due to blanket statement reporting by Indianapolis news media outlets. High crime rates on the near east side and north east side of Indianapolis cause serious problems, but are limited to those areas. Due to chronic misrepresentation by local media outlets, this has caused a serious ripple effect that has now expanded to cover the entire area of the city east of downtown, affecting the east side's local economy, home and property values, and has not only generated a generally negative image from media outlets, but has also seriously damaged the east side's reputation as a safe and wholesome place to live. 

As we have tried to re-build and revitalize our side of town in the wake of the recession, we have had numerous offices, stores, and other job-generating opportunities refuse to open up shop in our neighborhoods, claiming that they fear crime, poverty, and other issues that are simply not present in our communities will be the downfall of their businesses. They cite irresponsible, blanket-statement news reports from local media outlets as reasons to abandon our communities. 

As equal citizens of Indianapolis, we want destructive, generalized reporting that has created an unfair perception of the east side to stop. It is not uncommon for areas of the city that have high crime and are physically not located on the east side to be labeled as such, even though they are, in fact, not on the east side. This is false representation that damages our homes, communities, and economy. News media outlets should be more responsible with their reporting, and stop making general statements that are destructive socially and economically to the many thousands of hard-working citizens living east of the downtown and near downtown area. We would like to be recognized as distinct from the near east side, the near north side, and the north-east side, as well as any other areas of the city with high crime that are separate from the east side, but with whom we are consistently grouped with.

While we do recognize that there are certain areas of the east side that have issues, we are working as communities to combat them, and moreover, city data demonstrates that the true east side area is not a problem area, and is an important social, economic, and cultural asset of our great city. We only ask to be treated as such. The general area mentioned is Irvington to the west, north to 30th street, south to Raymond Street, all the way east to Cumberland.

Please help us to gain fair and accurate representation from news outlets by signing this petition. No matter where you live around Indianapolis or anywhere else, please help us. All we are asking for is fair and accurate representation.