THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 22, 1995 TAG: 9503210014
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 30 lines
I'm convinced we have the worst media in the country. Not only do cable-television programs get interrupted to show Crime Line updates; every other news source overwhelms me with every murder and other violent crime that occurs in this town.
A recent example is your March 8 issue. A local murder story (albeit four years old) appears on the front page and two (not one) murder stories appear on the front page of the local section.
Meanwhile, I noted on March 7 that two cities with much higher violent-crime rates than ours (Richmond and Charlotte) had no crime stories on their front pages or local-news sections - except for a reference in the Richmond paper to a murder in Newport News.
Is it any wonder that people I talk to around here seem so depressed and unhappy? Although crime is an issue on every American's mind, why can't local media put the same level of emphasis on it as everyone else? Let's hope that ratings, sales or some other issue is not involved.
RYAN ANDERSON
Virginia Beach, March 8, 1995 by CNB