I did some scanner blogging (I listen to the scanner and post updates to my blog) earlier this month. There was a police chase in which some armed robbery suspects tossed a rifle out of their car. There was a homeless guy wearing goggles who walked behind the counter at a restaurant and walked out with some cash. There was a guy who overdosed on drugs who later walked out of Methodist Medical Center with an IV sticking out of his arm and vanished into the surrounding neighborhood. And then there was the incident in which multiple patrol cars were sent to a home on a report that an armed man was threatening a woman and her three children. Turned out to be a false alarm, but the neighbors sure must have been wondering what was going on.
All in all, it was a pretty interesting day.
But it didn’t happen. Well not officially. Not on the record. The Journal Star, Peoria’s one and only daily newspaper of record, made no mention of any of these things on its Website. In fact, the Website was silent about ANY Peoria-based crimes. You know their Website. It’s the one that now charges $6.95 for a one-month subscription.
And I can guess why the absence of local crime news. Police reporting in Peoria pretty much consists of wading through the initial incident reports filed by officers, and then picking the ones that particular reporter considered the most serious, or the ones most likely to be covered by competing media. But this is almost universally done on the following morning, far too late to make deadline. Events that happen early on a Thursday, for example, would not appear in print until Saturday. And often, crime news that might generate talk among neighbors doesn’t make the cut at all.
Why? Because even though the Journal Star is now selling access to online news articles, the whole joint still operates as if the Web is an afterthought. Print is the only media that matters. That’s why the PJS withholds news it has collected until print deadlines can be met. Why it doesn’t try to collect more police news has more to do with lack of manpower, as well as a neurotic habit of not treating anything as news until there’s a piece of paper saying it happened.
This is one of the reasons I do scanner blogging. I know it’s not a complete record, nor the definitive version of what happens on the street. Officers and dispatchers can make mistakes over the air. That’s why I don’t repeat names or addresses when I scanner blog. But it is more immediate than what we are given by the local media. It’s a pretty good representation of the work being done by police, fire and rescue personal at the time you are listening.
It helps to answer the eternal question: “So, what the Hell were police cars doing down the block last night.” That question often goes unanswered when the media ignores news that doesn’t end in an arrest or someone going to the hospital. And THAT leads to this statement: “I don’t know why I buy the Journal Star; there’s never any NEWS in it.”
Heaven forbid any mainstream media organization ever mentions something they know about only through scanner traffic. Never mind the fact that waiting for the official version — and not trusting the evidence of your own ears — gives police waaaaaaay too much power over what becomes news.
Shorter stories and more bylines at the Journal Star?
When do newspaper articles get a byline? There are no official rules. But there are characteristics that can be noted.
Length: I would hesitate to state a minimum number of words or sentences, but I don’t recall ever getting one on a story that was just three paragraphs long.
Quotes: A quote implies a names source, not that there are quotes every time there is a named source. Turn in a story with quotes you went out and got, you get a byline.
Subject: Certainly a reporter can get a byline on top of a story about a fire or a crime. But I don’t recall getting one when the article looked like all the data came off a press release. That is what we call a “rewrite.”
Why am I concerned about bylines? Because I’m seeing an awful lot of articles in the Journal Star with bylines that probably wouldn’t have earned one at any paper I’ve ever worked at. It’s sign of how understaffed and desperate the paper is to hide it.
I’m not naming names of reporters with the undeserved bylines. If the rules for when to award a byline have changed, it certainly isn’t the fault of the people writing the stories.
It used to be hard to get a byline. Back in the good old days (and maybe still the case at elite newspapers) you had to write something really special to get one.
Many newspapers that have gutted their press rooms and have far fewer people out there covering beats and breaking news. I’m sure management thinks good idea to slap bylines on just about everything, to make it look like the newsroom isn’t a virtual ghost town many have become
But it isn’t working. One of the biggest complaints about the Journal Star is that there’s very little news in it these days. Bylines won’t trick people into thinking otherwise.
When will I ever learn? No more predictions!
Last month, I predicted that either Eric Turner or Ryan Spain would fail to get re-elected to the Peoria City Council. I predicted that C.J. Summers would be among three new members of the council. Spain and Turner finished 2nd and 4th, respectively. Chuck Weaver and Beth Akeson finished 1st and 5th, while Gary Sandberg came in 3rd. Summers was a distant 9th. The ICC student finished in 10th and last place, which is surprising since he had more yard signs.
Billy Dennis is the co-founder of TellPeoria Online Media. He writes about the media and politics at his blog, tellpeoria.com/peoriapundit.