Hello all, the SLP's crime reporter here...
Just thought my input would be of interest here. I've avoided posting on here in a "professional" capacity as yet but I just can't resist today.
What you're talking about on this thread has become one of the great frustrations of my job - apart from reporting on tragic needless murder after murder, of course. This is when people complain because incidents in their area aren't in the paper - but haven't done anything about it themselves.
How do you think we find out about any crime? The police usually tell us (me) but sometimes they don't - for whatever reason. Or someone rings in.
If the police choose not to, or just don't get round to, telling us we have to rely on our contacts or other agencies who know we should be told (but sometimes forget) or members of the public phoning up to tell us. Often they just want to ask what is happening down the end of their road (when that happens I call the cops and tell them). Sometimes it is the victim or a relative who rings in to tell us because they want their story aired.
There isn't really any other way - we simply don't have the staff to drive round all day and find police cordons. The SLP has just seven reporters to cover the whole of South London but we have a tight budget, a paper to fill and other important stuff to be doing (like phoning round and answering calls when someone does ring in).
It has become a worrying trend for us that increasingly, instead of picking up the phone and calling their local paper, more and more people are using boards like this (U75 being one of the best) to talk about local issues. So every day I have a quick scan to see if anyone reports anything - and there have been a couple of shootings I haven't known about on here.
What I'm trying to say is a paper needs its readers to get its information and find the stories that matter, without that it will die. And yes, I know the SLP would get more of that if it was better but with the resources we have we do the best we can. People just aren't buying local papers the way they used to anywhere and we face far more competition from free papers delivered to the door or handed out on the Tube.
But, compare the SLP with other local papers (the whole industry is in terminal decline) and I reckon it is quite good. Take the nearest decent local paper, the Croydon Advertiser, for example. Our website is crap though and is never updated.
Me, I'm big on local newspapers and believe everyone should read, get involved in and take pride in their local paper - this is the piece of the media that is dedicated to your area and can help you stop whatever planning application, crime wave or new road that is affecting your life. But then I do work in local papers so it isn't surprising.
I'd appreciate your thoughts and hopefully next time you see a police cordon on your road you'll ring me.
(And yes, the job is very depressing.)
