Community Postings and Reporting on Crime -- Where Do We Draw the Blue Line?
Mayor Marty Blum commented on BlogaBarbara yesterday and it caused me to think, stop and consider most of the day. She brought up a good point in that she doesn't think "anonymous postings speculating about crime are good for the community. People have vivid imaginations and to play to their fears is wrong. Let's all have the facts, then talk."
While I don't think the blogging community really thinks that there is a conspiracy in city government to suppress information, I'm not sure the City of SB is structurally set up to provide all of the related information freely unless they are asked -- especially if it is not in the Police Department's or the case's best interest. I can understand that investigations require discretion and the Police Department needs some room to find out what happened in the second Spearmint Rhino incident in a little over a year -- but I can't help but think that Dawn Hobbs would have written about this on the 14th or 15th of this month.
Why wouldn't the SBPD downplay something they don't have a lot of information on which involves a prior crime scene? A proactive reporter is more likely to get this information than a reactive Public Information Officer giving it. No judgment here -- each would be doing their job which is why I see the Mayor's point of view and consider it very valid.
The fact is that we don't have someone like Dawn sitting by her police scanner, ready to report what happened as she saw and heard it. When you are a temp that can't leave De la Guerra Plaza, this kind of creativity and commitment to the news isn't going to happen. When you are part of any other news organizations in Santa Barbara with limited resources -- how are you going to cover something like this?
What we have seen with the Ralph's Ralph incident and perhaps now with this stabbing is that the traditional way of getting information about what happened last night when you heard a scuffle in your neighborhood or ran into traffic on Carrillo Street is outdated as we no longer in the age of the hyper-local Internet, GPS, text-messaging, blogs, etc. have the desire to wait until tomorrow or the next day to see the official press release. We also have more information as random citizens post photos and commentary related to their experience shortly thereafter. We can't tell which is more relevant and real any longer in the age of YouTube.
Mayor Blum is right in that we need to let the Police Department do their work and not light a fire under the "word on the street". And, people like myself need to be careful not to name names or information that is too specific as this is the job of the City of Santa Barbara and our Police Department. Where does that leave us, however, with our "right to know?" Do we have that right? or did Police Departments have more say in how we viewed that right a decade ago?
Our combined efforts as a blogging and Internet community at disseminating information is something the City and the Police Department are not used to and I hope we can all agree -- even tacitly -- on suitable, reasonable rules of engagement. Mayor Blum is right, but where does that leave us as we continue to practically live blog as a major event happens?
While I don't think the blogging community really thinks that there is a conspiracy in city government to suppress information, I'm not sure the City of SB is structurally set up to provide all of the related information freely unless they are asked -- especially if it is not in the Police Department's or the case's best interest. I can understand that investigations require discretion and the Police Department needs some room to find out what happened in the second Spearmint Rhino incident in a little over a year -- but I can't help but think that Dawn Hobbs would have written about this on the 14th or 15th of this month.
Why wouldn't the SBPD downplay something they don't have a lot of information on which involves a prior crime scene? A proactive reporter is more likely to get this information than a reactive Public Information Officer giving it. No judgment here -- each would be doing their job which is why I see the Mayor's point of view and consider it very valid.
The fact is that we don't have someone like Dawn sitting by her police scanner, ready to report what happened as she saw and heard it. When you are a temp that can't leave De la Guerra Plaza, this kind of creativity and commitment to the news isn't going to happen. When you are part of any other news organizations in Santa Barbara with limited resources -- how are you going to cover something like this?
What we have seen with the Ralph's Ralph incident and perhaps now with this stabbing is that the traditional way of getting information about what happened last night when you heard a scuffle in your neighborhood or ran into traffic on Carrillo Street is outdated as we no longer in the age of the hyper-local Internet, GPS, text-messaging, blogs, etc. have the desire to wait until tomorrow or the next day to see the official press release. We also have more information as random citizens post photos and commentary related to their experience shortly thereafter. We can't tell which is more relevant and real any longer in the age of YouTube.
Mayor Blum is right in that we need to let the Police Department do their work and not light a fire under the "word on the street". And, people like myself need to be careful not to name names or information that is too specific as this is the job of the City of Santa Barbara and our Police Department. Where does that leave us, however, with our "right to know?" Do we have that right? or did Police Departments have more say in how we viewed that right a decade ago?
Our combined efforts as a blogging and Internet community at disseminating information is something the City and the Police Department are not used to and I hope we can all agree -- even tacitly -- on suitable, reasonable rules of engagement. Mayor Blum is right, but where does that leave us as we continue to practically live blog as a major event happens?
Labels: Alternative News Sources, blogs, citizen journalism, City of Santa Barbara
posted by Sara De la Guerra | 10/22/2007 10:59:00 PM
|
23 comments
Our Community Guidelines ask that you use the Blogger/Open ID login or the
more private Name/URL option when making comments. Comments using "Anonymous" will not be published. For more info, see choosing an identity.