Graffiti got a very bad press in Sydney press in September 1988, when a young woman was allegedly abducted from a railway station and murdered by a group of young men and women who had associations with graffiti gangs. Graffitists and their sympathisers fought back, and stories portraying graffitists as, if not quite the kid next door, at least frustrated artists, began to appear in the media. He also gets permission from builders to paint on their hoardings. Not only is it legal and more artistically fulfilling than writing tags on trains, it also commands a much wider audience. The graffiti we see now are the purest form of the art because they are something spontaneous, and outside the structured art gallery system.
Writers also gain status by being arrested and can become heroes if they get off the charges.
Punishment seems to depend on whether the magistrate perceives the writer as a kid acting on impulse or a hardened gang member with a long record. The graffiti subculture seems to be highly developed, with secret signals, symbols and handshakes and cult books. There are reports of information exchanges, crew summit meetings, extensive interstate and even international connections, and a monthly periodical called Hip Hop. Some graffitists with a taste for publicity have even had Vandals Wanted business cards printed, complete with the VW logo. The philosophical stance, designs and operational tips in these books have been adopted by local graffitist, as has the graffitists' special slang.