Advancing the Story
Here in the Albany area this week, there’s been one story: what’s come to be known as the Kegs and Eggs Riot of 2011. To say the media has had a field day would be like saying Japan had an earthquake.
On Saturday March 12, throngs of UAlbany students were doing some early morning pregaming for the city’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Things got out of hand and ended in an orgy of mad drunken mayhem. Nobody got hurt, five got arrested.
As I wrote elsewhere, it would not have been a huge story if not for all of the pictures and videos that started zipping around the internet. The images turned it into a media sensation.
That’s all well and good, but now it appears that the Times Union newspaper is doing everything it can to see that more of these marauding students get arrested. Just take a look at this graphic from the front page of their website.
Why would they do this? Simple. Arrests mean that they get a few more days out of a story that’s been a huge online sensation. Interestingly, the newspaper is doing more here to help catch the Kegs and Eggs kulprits than they did to help generate leads after the coldblooded murder of a UAlbany student in 2008. That wasn’t on the front page for five days,* nor did it receive such broad online treatment.
I’m sure in 2008 they would have said, “Hey it’s not our job to help the police find his killer.”
Oh, really? But it’s your job to help them arrest some drunken college students?
*Someone counted and told me it was four days, 10/22/08 – 10/25/08
7 Comments → “Advancing the Story”
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I’m not sure I agree with you on the Bailey story — and I would know because I work at the paper — but I’ve never seen us side up with the cops like this.
The online product has changed everything. A story like this won’t really have an impact on circulation (we’re not the NY Post), but the potential to drive Web traffic is a factor in how its covered.
They love this sh*t. The newspaper itself plays it straight, but on the internet, anything goes. They just want to get people to spend more time clicking around. That’s where the money is today.
Full of salient points. Don’t stop believing or wriintg!
The Times Union’s relationship with the Albany Police department is now open game. Just look at how they handled the Jimmy Miller arrest.
They COMPLETELY soft pedaled on the the story while the TV stations went to town. No wonder. How many times have the TV stations been left in the dark while Miller hands out stuff to his friends at the paper.
They’ve been a lot tougher on people were much less well-known.
Don’t get me wrong, I like Jimmy. He’s a great guy and this whole thing sucks, but let’s call a spade a spade.
This is bad news for Supercop’s legion of groupies.
Hey! What’s that up the Albany Police Department’s ass? Oh, nevermind. It’s just the Times Union.
The Times Union sucks. Always has. Always will.