Community Chat

[hyacinth003]

I am really curious if this is a regional issue, or is it in other parts of the country. I am in suburban Chicago.

We have a local news online called "The Patch," which I have seen in other places. Like the "Orlando Patch," and many others throughout the country.

Was just reading a story about a pedestrian killed by a car. It named the man, his age, what town he was from. However, nothing about the circumstances of the accident. Was it a hit and run, etc.? I go to the Chicago Tribune website and see it was an accident with a teen driver, etc.

Earlier this year, there was a report of an armed robbery at a 7-11. Now, this would be RARE in the town I live in. At least it was! All they said was the location and that the suspects were "a man and a woman." Huh? How about age, description, race, any other identification of the suspects? You might actually get help from the public.

These are just examples of many more I have seen. Are people not being taught in journalism school, or are they deliberately holding out details on stories?

Hyacinth

[Peaches McPhee]

I wonder about this too. I often think reporters are leaving out a significant part of the story, and leaving the reader with more questions than answers. Puzzles me.

[deepwaterdotter]

Have you contacted ""The Patch"" to request more thorough reporting?

[YorkieonmyPillow]

The local TV station here refuses to reveal the race of a suspect. They said it was their ""policy"" not to mention race----- even when there was a armed bank robbery with the suspect still at large.

PC gone mad.

[Kachina624]

I don't think that is happening in my area. We seem to get all the ugly details including photos from closed circuit cameras.

[Buck-i-Nana]

I believe those "Patch" sites are really just limited "taste of home" type news sites. I get facebook feed from the Levittown Patch, my old home town, and if something catches my attention, then I will go to other more in-depth news sites for the whole story.

[hyacinth003]

On 12/26/2014 YorkieonmyPillow said:

The local TV station here refuses to reveal the race of a suspect. They said it was their ""policy"" not to mention race----- even when there was a armed bank robbery with the suspect still at large.

PC gone mad.

OMG. Better not tell the police either!

Hyacinth

[millieshops]

No idea what's going on now with Patch, but for a while I felt they were volunteers reporting bits of local news, not a news agency with any budget to allow for in-depth reporting. Maybe just listening to scanners?

[AnikaBrodie]

Many in the media want to get the news story out first before other sources report it. In doing so they don't check their facts and either report misleading or inaccurate or incomplete information and then have no follow-up. It's aggravating to say the least.

We just had a RARE reporting of a road rage incident in our small town that happened on Christmas morning with no update(s) on today's news.

[LilacTree]

Never heard of this type of news reporting. We don't get that around here (northeastern coast . . . NJ, PA, etc.).