On Tuesday, the Washington Post launched a new blog dedicated to covering the local crime scene in the District and surrounding areas. The Crime Scene’s mission, according to the site, is to be a place for readers to interact with crime reporters and follow issues relating to public safety.
This is long overdue. I hope that the blog doesn’t get bogged down too much into national stories. Despite recent progress in the past decade, DC is still one of the most violent cities in the country and most local residents don’t have a clear picture of true crime narratives happening here. This blog would be well served to dig deep locally and carve out a niche in local crime stories, instead of getting too distracted by high-profile national stories that every other outlet in the country will be sending correspondents to cover (for example, stories like the DC sniper or the Holocaust Museum shooter). While the Post is a national outlet and needs to cover national stories, it tends to devote inordinate resources to these blockbuster cases while the day-to-day crimes happening every day and impacting DC residents in a very direct way are generally ignored.
The Crime Scene arrives just in time. Jim Brady’s local news project looms on the horizon in 2010, and the Post seems to be beefing up its local coverage in preparation for a showdown. It will be fascinating to watch how these reporters use this new space to capture the rougher side of what goes on in the District, and if they are able to lay a solid claim to this beat before the competition shows up.
