News media irresponsibility

I'm wondering if we in rural Ohio are the only ones who encounter this:

I live in a rural part of Ohio where the LE response time can easily be 45 minutes or more. Recently a nearby small town had two armed robberies in two weeks. This was reported on TV, as it should be. However, the report began with the statement, "A small town in central Ohio has had some big crime problems due to DECREASED POLICE PROTECTION (emphasis mine)." They went on to say later in the article that the sheriff's office now has half the deputies compared with two years ago, and that "investigation into the recent robberies has been hindered because the department does not have anyone to examine the cases full-time."

So, now every hood in Columbus knows about the weakened LE in this county if they didn't before. The tax base in this county is low (a nearby bridge on a (formerly) heavily-traveled road has been out for a year) so the situation won't change soon. Granted, the crooks probably have other ways of finding out where the weak LE spots are, but the media don't have to help them:mad:.

Zeko

All I know is that whenever the blankin' guberment complains about lack of funds, the first thing to go is the public safety budget. Roads and bridges get about the same priority.

Yes, this man saw the piece, and now he and his friends are going to pay y'all a visit.

While I am totally for Freedom of the press, and our Governments need for 1A to keep it in check, I also tend to agree with you, that in today’s world, media needs to present the news without bios. But at the same time, media both national and local need to weigh out reporting all the truth vs censoring the truth, so innocent people are not hurt.

You’re post is a good example, of irresponsible reporting, another one is a central Florida news paper revealed the name of a Sheriff’s department’s confidential informant, that had helped them bring down a drug ring. That same week she was killed.

Sure, in my example the SD screwed up in allowing the media to find out the CI name, but the media killed that lady by revealing her name.

And the same can be said in your case. The SD screwed up in telling the media that they are short staffed, and because of such, it’s hard for them to stop violent crime. But the media is the one to blame if your town now gets a rash of crimes.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by The Arverni

Yes, this man saw the piece, and now he and his friends are going to pay y'all a visit.

---

That's not right....

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tns0038

While I am totally for Freedom of the press, and our Governments need for 1A to keep it in check, I also tend to agree with you, that in today’s world, media needs to present the news without bios. But at the same time, media both national and local need to weigh out reporting all the truth vs censoring the truth, so innocent people are not hurt.

---

The media doesn't care if their reporting causes harm to anyone. In fact if it causes something else to happen it is more for them to report. Truth in reporting is like honor among thieves. It's a myth that does not exist.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by archer51

The media doesn't care if their reporting causes harm to anyone. In fact if it causes something else to happen it is more for them to report. Truth in reporting is like honor among thieves. It's a myth that does not exist.

---

Exactly! The local news in the Detroit area is awful. Sensationalism sells and the local media here thrives on instilling fear in the sheep, and fueling the BG's with information that they shouldn't need to know. The worst of the three local networks has the highest ratings, making me wonder if the rest of the general public is as ignorant as the media themselves.

I live in an area outside Colorado Springs the LEO response time is also an extended time. The bad guys do not come around very often because I think they know the home owners have guns. Yup we're rednecks, we also have a gun friendly sheriff.

in my small town in ohio there are usually 4 leo's for the first 2 shifts and 3 for the midnight shift. that isn't nearly enough and crime has increased. response time is 5-10 minutes. if outside the city limits 20+ minutes is the norm. i guess that's why i'm armed at home all the time.

It may not be "just the media" in some of these cases where inappropriate information is published.

Ten years ago I was elected mayor of a small rural town. The previous mayor had been in office more than twenty years. The town had 8 uniformed officers and a population of less than 4000. The crime rate was low. The police chief had been in the department for many years. Apparently, the chief and his number two decided I was a soft target and started to insist on more funding. Tax revenues were not increasing, so no more resources were available. When I wouldn't roll over, anonymous letters to the editor began to appear asserting the police were underfunded and underpaid. Then every minor accident and small incident began to be reported in the paper with a slant provided by the police about how they were too busy to get to the scene right away, or were going to followup when they could get to it, etc.

This did in fact attract criminal elements to the town. Including a crime family consisting of a lady and her four criminal sons. We started having break ins and other property crimes that had been rare. The police were not solving these crimes. They continued to hint at lack of pay and resources. I got resignations from the chief and his assistant.

Within a year the new chief had run the criminals out of town and had crime back to normal. We are back to our home grown criminals and the occasional transient crook. No more letters to the editor and slanted news stories appear in the paper concerning the police. Today there are 8 uniformed officers and the population is 4000.

The ex-chief is a relatively young man, but has never worked in law enforcement again. No action was taken to address his POST status. I did or said nothing to keep him from finding another job(liability concerns). His assistant is working in another part of the state. Perhaps the law enforcement community passed the story of our town around among themselves and that kept him from getting another job. Perhaps he didn't want to work again. I just don't know.

I hope it is rare for a circumstance such as ours to arise. During my eight years as mayor I developed a deeper respect for the patrol, sheriff's department, and city police department than I ever had as a citizen. It is very difficult for them to do their job within the guidelines of the constitution. They are outstanding people and to a person want their jurisdiction to be the best and safest in the state. I am sure that is the rule across the country rather than the exception.

I have little love for the local paper. They are willing to be a tool for the agenda of others if there is some chance they will sell more papers. The police story was just one example of this. Over the eight years I was mayor, we had six or seven editors of the town paper. With the exception of one or two, they were worthless. They cared little for facts and routinely did not report both sides of a story, especially if doing so would put controversy to rest. Witnessing first hand the shameless nature of the newspaper business was easily the worst part of being a volunteer mayor.

If you want to pressure your paper, contact the bigger advertisers and voice your concerns. The paper only survives if it can get paid advertising.

Well said - remember that in any media if you address the business that buy adds, only then will you see a change. That also means being willing to boycot the business if they continue to support the paper or radio or tv stations.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by The Arverni

Yes, this man saw the piece, and now he and his friends are going to pay y'all a visit.

---

Just walk away. I will give you safe passage through the wasteland. Just walk away....

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rugergirl

Sensationalism sells

---

:yup:

It is all about selling -- not the news, the truth, etc

Media (all of it from local papers to national TV) is about selling ads.

Selling ads is about circulation, % of viewership, spending habits of the target audience, the support of the ad buyer's image, etc.

The media's main selling job is to convince the folk who buy ads that they can sell their products/program better with that particular media. To do that they compete against each other for numbers, demographics etc. They are very good at what they do or they lose the battle of selling their services -- losing their job as a result. They know that their bread isn't buttered by truth/fairness/objectivity/etc.

So, .... :urlaub2:

I live in a small town & know a little about small town politics -- and I wouldn't be so quick to condemn the paper. My observation has been that whatever the editor of the local paper sees fit to rant about in print, that's what the city council or county commissioners will worry about fixing. If the LE 'gap' in coverage worried me, I'd sure be glad to see it mentioned in the paper, because embarrassment at their own (publicized) incompetence is the ONLY way some city councils and county commissioners ever decide to do anything worthwhile.

As an aside, one of our local towns is having a huge power struggle between the PD and the mayor's office. The county paper is on the side of the mayor, which is a shame because the PD is in the right on this one. Not that it matters; you never get into a public grudge match with someone who buys ink by the ton. The internet is slowly changing that (thank goodness!) but it's still a good rule of thumb for a small towner.

pax

Most often when I see this kind of "reporting," it has something to do with the agency involved trying to get more money. Once upon a time, reporters would verify what a source tells them before going with the story. The city / county wants more money for more cops / cars / what-ever, so they talk with a local reporter making the reporter think they're getting a scoop, and it's in the next day's news. Once it's out there, it is very difficult to get it back. Does the name Richard Jewell ring a bell?

Most folks believe what they read / see in the news. Especially local news. Government policy wonks figured out years ago that a good way to get the citizens to support paying more taxes, is to scare the hell out of them. One good way to do that, is to say how bad crime is because we don't have enough cops. (There are never enough cops.)

Crooks are for the most part, not what we would call "rocket scientists." Most have a very short attention span and unable to formulate a workable plan beyond getting into the building / car / what-ever. To suggest that they have an intelligence unit which scans the news looking for changes in patterns of police activity, ignores reality.