A number of Berkeleysiders sent us information yesterday about the Oscar Grant trial. Unlike most other Bay Area-based news sources, we didn’t write about the trial or its aftermath.
Why?
We realize we can’t cover everything, but we work hard to focus all of our efforts on Berkeley stories. If it’s in Berkeley and we have the time and resources, we want to cover it, whether it’s a major story or just some local curiosity. If it’s not in Berkeley, we’ll pass.
Yesterday, we could have done a post about heightened worries in Berkeley about potential spillover of violence from Oakland. The city even set up an emergency information page in case there was something to warn people about. We made the judgement call that writing about potential problems would serve little purpose, other than encouraging largely baseless worry for Berkeleyans.
If there had been protests in Berkeley, peaceful or violent, we would certainly have covered them. As it was, interested readers had numerous alternatives to follow what was happening in Oakland.
Let us know if you think our policy is the right one.
