All the News That's Fit To Ignore

Adam G. over at Universal Hub asks a worthwhile question this morning concerning our local newspapers' crime reporting policies.

Anybody who's read Universal Hub regularly over the past few weeks knows I've become addicted to BPDNews. I admit it - I can't stop looking (but feel free to join the chorus telling me I'm going overboard with BPD links here).

Nonsense, Adam. Keep up the good work.

One thing I'm noticing: There's a fair amount of violent crime going on out there that just isn't making the papers. To be sure, the Globe and Herald both do a good job of covering murders and shootings; yesterday's papers told us all about a triple shooting in Mattapan (which left one person dead), a shooting at Mirage on Tremont and the shooting of a woman sitting on her front steps (oh, yeah, and the Animal House revelries broken up by the cops in Brighton). And both papers have been devoting a fair amount of space to efforts to curb violent crime in the city.

But let's see what the two papers didn't cover Sunday, yesterday or today - covering the period from Saturday through Monday:

A Roslindale man reported being forced into his apartment by two shotgun-wielding men, who tied him up and robbed him.

Gee, it's a good thing I don't live in that neighborhood.

Oh, wait...never mind.

In JP, the Heath Street Laundromat was held up at gunpoint. In Dorchester, the Talbot Market was also held up a gunpoint. A woman going into her Beacon Hill apartment was robbed at gunpoint in broad daylight. Three men were arrested for a home invasion on Adams Street in Dorchester. Shots were fired at a house in Dorchester.

Should these things be in the paper? I know if I lived in the part of Roslindale where the guy was robbed by thugs with shotguns - or on the same street as that Beacon Hill woman - I'd sure want to know. Are these sorts of crimes so commonplace they don't warrant media attention - or just too "local" for metro papers?

I've added my (predictable) $0.02 to the discussion. Comments are moderated, so it takes a while for them to be published. Be patient.