Why isn’t there better reporting on the people doing the crimes in DC?

[Anonymous]

As I’m following the news about the surge in crime in DC and other cities, I’m constantly frustrated by the lack of reporting on the people DOING THE CRIMES.

The post has a whole story today about rising crimes and restaurants. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2023/11/10/restaurants-crime-dc-oakland-chicago/). They have interviews with restauranteurs, prosecutors, etc etc. They mention a bunch of crimes near the Convivial in Shaw over the last few years but they have ZERO quotes from people involved in the crimes. Some of these crimes were years old and some involved injuries and deaths, so it’s not impossible to identify and try to interview the people involved.

I mean, dateline manages to interview 100 people every time a soccer mom is murdered even if the case is ongoing. We have a great paper with a relatively benevolent billionaire owner. Why can’t they get these stories? I find it’s impossible for me to understand the surge in crime and how much it might or might not relate to Covid or police reform or anything else when I have zero insight into the people involved.

For example, carjacking. Right now there are, I don’t know, at least dozens of teens in DC engaging in carjacking. What do THEY think about it? What do their parents think? How can there be NO reporting? The closest I’ve seen is something about how one of the carjacker’s father had an outburst in court.

If the Post and the Times can send people into Gaza and get quotes from Hamas, this isn’t impossible.

Okay rant over, thank you.

[Anonymous]

Totally agree. The Post's coverage of local crime is extremely lacking in depth. All they have now are aspiring national politics reporters who only know how to write about the politics of an issue, rather than write about the actual issue.

[Anonymous]

They don't want you to know who commits the crimes.

[Anonymous]

Because the majority of the perpetrators are black and it’s considered racist to even mention that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because the majority of the perpetrators are black and it’s considered racist to even mention that.

Or to put in pictures.

[Anonymous]

Because there really aren't a lot of good journalists these days with the resources to pursue things. Even at WP.

And race. Any story about crime in DC ultimately has to get into it. But no one wants that noise. So it's just headlines and moving on.