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Richmond Paper Makes Sniper News

Local Ties Give Reporters a Leg Up

Monday, October 21, 2002
(1:00 PM ET)
By Chris Nammour



Chris Nammour is a senior at Medill School of Journalism and an intern at E&P



Louise Seals said she was not surprised the Richmond Times-Dispatch got the jump on its competition in covering the story. "We better be outgunning these other publications with all the resources we have right here, when they're sending people from afar. If we're not, we better take a look at what we're doing."

NEW YORK, N.Y.
The recent shootings in the D.C. area have pitted local papers against national media like The Washington Post, Associated Press, and huge network and cable news operations. In this struggle for news breaks, one local paper, the Richmond Times-Dispatch in Virginia, scored high on Monday.

Several Times-Dispatch reports -- involving details about the latest note from the killer and tarot cards found at other shooting sites -- were quickly picked up by others on the news trail.

Editors at the Time-Dispatch declined to say much on how they got this information but strong ties in the community have given the paper an advantage over national players.

"This is our backyard," said Louise Seals, managing editor for the Time-Dispatch, referring to the latest shooting on Saturday in nearby Ashland. "We know the local police and they know us."
(More: MediaInfo.com News Source)
2002 © Chris Nammour.

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