Policing the Chicago Tribune’s ‘The Blotter’
There are a lot of theories that explain why the media focus so heavily on law and order motifs. But the Tribune’s new(?) feature, The Blotter, is some of the strangest media fearmongering I’ve ever seen.
Mayhem? It’s not Gotham City. And is it crime or mayhem that’s responsible for the Metra death?
A ‘blotter’ is an item that soaks up excess liquids and collects it in one place. That is quite literally what the Tribune professes to do with this section - collect all the city’s blood in one place. That’s what the Metra story qualifies, despite being an accident.
Not to mention the fact that its style and placement on the screen is reminiscent of other sites‘ entertainment sections. ‘Short takes’ are usually light, fluffy stories, not murders and grisly accidents. What we have here is the infotainment-ization of Chicagoland tragedies.
This is a disgusting example of the Tribune’s long slide into irrelevance. Poor taste doesn’t really describe it. The web editor that came up with this should really be fired.
Update: Sam points out the ostensibly bloody thumb print.
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