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This article examines correlations between media and street violence using five selected examples: the revolutions of 1848, the tenant riots in Vienna around 1900, the occupation of the Ruhr 1923, street fights in Paris and Munich in 1961 / 62 and the interplay of violence and camera presence during protests in the 1970s. Since 1800 mass media has become a conductive factor within outbreaks of street violence and has contributed to its shaping into a more choreographed, staged and performative act. Against this background the article argues for a change of perspectives by focusing more on the qualitive change of violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]