Well, that could be said of almost anything reporters write. For example: reporting on pirates and their successful bribes to release their captives near Somalia, NYT reporters who get kidnapped, any terrorist event (Islamic related, Abortion related, etc). Does reporting help encourage those activities? Probably does, so I guess you are right...

The photos are particularly bad with graffiti. Responsible journalists never show photos of that garbage.

Vandalism is not real. It's a hoax, perpetrated by liberals who have drank the global warming kool-aid. The planet has natural vandalism cycles--it's not manmade.

ecohuman...you may be on to something.
Just look at all the "graffiti" left on the walls of Pompei, or the caves of Alta Mira in Spain or in southern France.
Today this is 'art'; who knows what is was when it was done.

The best way to discourage graffiti is to clean it up immediately, as soon as you find it.

Taggers notice if they go through the trouble, and the tag is gone by the time they roll out of the bed the next day. Strange how many business owners don't realize this.

And yes, putting it in the paper is a horrible idea.

Tough one. The immoral and arrogant decision by the Bushies to prevent the media from taking pictures of soldiers' returning coffins is one datum. The reprehensible decision by Obama to prevent the release of the Bush torture photos is another. Covering up war crimes is apparently cool now.

There's a principle at stake here, which is that some people think that the way to manage things in society is to control the images people see, and that journalists and bloggers need to be controlled so that the wrong pictures don't get to the wrong places and inspire more of the wrong things.

I'm not buying it. What happens, happens, and anyone who wants to report on what happens should be able to. Most crime stories run pictures of crime scenes when available; so too with vandalism crimes.

Sometimes its the way things get reported. Substituting "Head Coward" for "Mastermind" on every terrorist attack story would be good starting point.

Years ago J. Edgar Hoover discouraged the papers from doing headline stories of bank robberies because he suggested it only encouraged other people to engage in the same line of work.

BTW when Gore is here will he be promoting his investments in green living or whatever it is called these days?

I agree completely - there are just some things that shouldn't be subject to publication, and for a variety of reasons. Rape victims and other similar crime victims don't have their name and photo published, for good reason. So-called "taggers" shouldn't have their vandalism published, for equally valid reasons.

Say...are these vandals from Gresham? Randy had all the spray paint in Portland locked up, after all. Just askin'.

What's missing from the media coverage is analysis of the message, and who left it. These messages state that Gore isn't going far enough, fast enough.

In other words, it's an attack from Gore's left. Why will the TV news opine about how deplorable all of this graffiti is, without mentioning the motivation behind it?

Also, Portland business owners are interested in just how fast the city responded. They can barely get the graffiti task force to show up -- ever -- after their enterprises are tagged, over and over.

Ah the main scream media, when will they do the right thing. (Never) But as long as the population as a whole are against something they can get away with it.

Every morsel of a story must be artisticly and politicly puzzle pieced just right to fit the (liberal)agenda.

Is it ok that the James Chassey case is constantly posted and pictured until the end of time. Is that the same kind of thing? Just asking no judgement.

"Say...are these vandals from Gresham? Randy had all the spray paint in Portland locked up, after all. Just askin'."

That would lend evidence to MAX being a thug pipeline, and we know that's not the case...

why does law enforcement make it so easy if the fines are stiff with jail time they might not want to think twice about the crime? or why not install cameras with someone watching them real time?

When I bought a can of black spray paint recently in Portland, I had to find a guy to unlock the paint, show ID, sign a somewhat muddled form and endure the good natured laughter of everyone in line. I suppose if I'd been willing to travel a few miles east, west or north I would have been able to pluck it right off the shelf, which is probably exactly what the taggers do.