10/21/06

Breaking news: It's not what you know, it's what you say.

Today's article on the Times is headlined "Passer-by finds woman's body in Roanoke River." Yesterday's breaking news.

Now, one would think that considering it's not all that often one finds a body in the river (at least not here) that you might want to release a bit more information than just that.

I mean, there's nothing in the article that says anything of substance.

But I know what they know and aren't saying yet. I have my sources just as they do. Well, should - as I don't truly know if they have any inside sources.

If nothing is released by Monday morning, I will have to scoop the newspaper/tv reporters and drop the bomb on this story.

And wouldn't that be sad, for a citizen to scoop the press.

Just don't call me Drudge.

6 comments:

Adam said...

Come on scoop them. Stop pulling punches, but I do hope you have some substance and not just rumor.

But scoop 'em, the local media is sad in Roanoke. Maybe if they had someone out there finding the real stories of the city they'd stop doing "how not to catch a cold" stories and start reporting news.

RoanokeFound said...

I said Monday and I meant monday - this is information that is not critical to the investigation - if anything, it might help save lives.

Besides - they are waiting for the PD to make an official statement, and all I have is an unofficial statement. It's not a case of loose lips, it's a case of people being tired of not getting the whole story.

Monday morning - I'll hit all the news sites at 6am, if I don't see anything about it - I'm dropping it.

We cannot continue to remain ignorant of issues in our community - especially when they lead to murder.

Anonymous said...

When some researchers complained about inaccuracies in Wikipedia, one question they were asked was, "Did you correct them?" They all said No, and looked foolish for it.

If you have information the newspaper doesn't that you think should be reported, rather than complaining about it, doesn't it make more sense to contact the reporter?

They're not magicians. They rely on sources and if you have one why not pass it along?

RoanokeFound said...

Actually, in all honesty - no. I should not be passing along information to the people paid to gather such information.

Back in the day (not that long ago mind you) reporters sat in rooms with police and fire scanners - ready to leap at an interesting call.

I assume thats not the case anymore, as the local news is rarely local, and leans heavier on the fluff than on the hard news stories.

But no, I feel no such need to pass along a source - because my sources are no different than any paid journalist - I just actually think to ask them things.

Anonymous said...

Careful, that fall from the high horse might be a long one.

Anonymous said...

Oh, you bet the scanners are still there, right by the cops reporters. (And, when they're turned up, a little annoying to the rest of us. :)

Every now and again something exciting will happen and people will gather 'round while the editor on duty will be getting people moving.

But the cops are also using newer technology that scanners can't pickup, and they will sometimes switch to those freqs when something sensitive is happening.

In fact, when I asked one of the cops in the area why they were getting a particular piece of new equipment, he replied, "To keep you people from listening."