...maybe.  I suspect there's something in that.  But that's just it isn't it, just how do people gain a perception of what is happening in those "worst places" other than through the media coverage.  I know here in Oxford people do down the likes of Blackbird Leys, and feel justified in doing so when they see the odd, very odd, violent incident reported there, reported in the local press.  But I doubt in reality there's any more crime per head there than elsewhere in the city.  It doesn't stop people talking as if Blackbird Leys is a hell on earth!