Mark Maynard, a marketing and business development executive in Ypsilanti who has been blogging for 11 years, doesn't usually post media criticism. He's more inclined to be "ranting about politics and the war being waged against the non-rich in America," as he puts it.
But a five-paragraph article this weekend at AnnArbor.com strikes him as ridicule-worthy. The police blotter item about the theft of an undisclosed amount is headlined "Change jar stolen during Ypsilanti home invasion."
Maynard questions the news value and sees a possible community-bashing tilt:
Mark MaynardMy sense is change jar theft is only newsworthy when it happens in Ypsilanti. . . .
Seriously, can someone explain to me why this is newsworthy? Generally speaking, I’m not inclined to waste too much time complaining about the coverage our community gets on AnnArbor.com, which I think is indisputably weighted toward the negative. But when I read things like this, it really makes me wonder if there’s any crime that could be committed in our community, regardless of how small, that wouldn’t get covered.
