If it bleeds, it leads
There's a reason I don't watch local television news. It's the same reason I don't own a police scanner. I'm just not into murders, rapes, drug deals, kidnappings, traffic accidents, drownings, and "body bag" journalism in general. Then, there are the public interest stories that promise to keep me alive and healthy if I stay away from peanut butter, hotel bedding, tap water and breathing.
I know I'm in the minority on this, as every local television station found out years ago. Now, I fear that my new favorite local news source, The Dallas Morning News Richardson blog, might be tempted to follow Channels 4, 5 and 8 in a race to the mucky bottom.
Ian McCann posted a blog item about today's car chase from Mesquite to downtown Dallas to north Dallas, ending in crash at the Richardson/Garland border. By 5:40 PM, the post had attracted 77 comments, by far the largest haul of commentary in memory on this fairly new blog. I fear McCann and Jeffrey Weiss, the main bloggers, will notice (or someone higher up will notice) and decide that blood and violence play as well in the blogosphere as they do in the vast televised wasteland. Given every newspaper's increasingly desperate search for relevancy, who could blame them for finding it in "a nasty looking T-bone crash" in Richardson? Just tell me you guys aren't going out to buy police scanners, will you?
7 comments:
I only watched it to see what bad word Ian was referencing in the blog.
The guy throws out an S-H at the end.
I admit I read some of the comments, at least down until "rickrolled123456" did something of a rickroll himself when he said, "San Dimas High School football RULES!"
I have owned and operated scanners since, uh, about 1976. I say this: a scanner is the single best tool for understanding the crime situaton in Richardson.
Listening to the raw feed (professional, discreet, measured communications) is not the same as watching the lurid "pornography of grief" crap trafficked by the local newscasters.
Do not be misled by the (accurate or otherwise) public impression of scannerfolk as ambulance chasers, lowest-common-denominator journalists, unwashed social misfits or tinfoil-hatters.
A scanner is a tool, and a particularly useful one.
If anyone needs more information on how to monitor COR's public safety EDACS trunked radio system, let me know.
"Bleeds it leads"? Yes, a bit. Still, we can't ignore that constables chased a guy from Mesquite to downtown Dallas to Garland/Richardson. There are, of course, larger issues to be explored, including whether a chase like this should even be allowed to happen. (Note DPD's chase policy.)
Anyway...I assure you that I don't plan to post any and every crime event that happens in the Richardson area.
bloggermouse, thanks for pointing out the usefulness of scanners. I was speaking only for myself. I'm not so interested in either the "pornography of grief" or the "professional, discreet, measured communications" of law enforcement. It's a matter of personal taste.
Ian McCann, thanks for the reply. What I found noteworthy was not that you blogged the police chase, nor what you said about it, but that 80-some readers felt the urge to comment. If I were the blog owner, that would catch my eye. If I were trying to build a business around my blog, I'd be inclined to give the readers more of what they want. But I'm just one reader and such an outcome would not be as popular with me. Again, it's just a matter of personal taste.
Ian:
"...I assure you that I don't plan to post any and every crime event that happens in the Richardson area."
My concern is that the RPD doesn't feel compelled to do it, either.
Keep up the good work on the richardsonblog. Having a mechanism for readers to talk back is a seismic shift in how commercial news operations work. Me likey. The execution of the comment-submission function could be better, but that's a site-wide problem and no reflection on your blog in particular.
bloggermouse: "My concern is that the RPD doesn't feel compelled to [post crime events] it, either."
Now that is a law enforcement topic that I am interested in. My position is that if it's public information, it should be conveniently accessible. The public should not have to file information requests, nor go to city hall or the police department and work through the bureaucracy to get at the information. I know we can't get there overnight, but government should be making sure and steady progress towards making all public information electronically searchable and viewable by the public.
P.S. Richardson City Council's encouraging news about putting video of its council meetings online in August is an example of a step in the right direction. Every facet of city government should be reviewed for similar treatment.
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