La Crítica

By Ryan Prescher

An unidentified man was shot at the intersection of 14th Street and Portland Avenue S. in downtown Minneapolis around 4 a.m. Friday morning, the Star Tribune article “Unidentified man is Minneapolis’ 37th homicide� by Tim Harlow said. Police responded to the call and closed off several streets in the Elliot Park area for investigation purposes, Harlow wrote. The police have not released the identity of the man that was shot. In addition, the article mentions that this is the 37th homicide in Minneapolis this year. Forty-eight homicides were reported at this time last year, Harlow wrote.

The Star Tribune article contains much more information about the shooting than most other news sources. In relation to other sources, the article was already updated at least once this morning, and it contains one authoritative source. Minneapolis police Sgt. Tammy Diedrich is attributed to most of the facts that are available for the public. The article also includes of map of the location where the shooting happened. Another important fact that is included in this story is that this murder is the 37th homicide this year, which is 11 less than last year at this time.

In contrast, the WCCO.com article “Man shot, killed near downtown Minneapolis� contains five whole sentences with very little information and has not been updated since 7 a.m. The article still states that several streets are closed in the area for investigation. This article only contains the bare bones of what was given to the public.

With much more information and ahead of every other news outlet is KSTP.com. The article “Murder just south of downtown Minneapolis rattles residents� by Justin Piehowski already contains a video broadcast of the story. In addition, unlike any other source, this article already contains sources other than the police. Residents of nearby apartments are quoted, and more information is given about speculations that police have about this shooting.

It seems like many other news sources are not too worried about providing a more in-depth report on this shooting with WCCO.com as a prime example. Maybe news outlets think there is more news that is important; however, I find it hard to believe that residents of the metro are not concerned about a shooting that left one man dead. I would think that this incident would take priority over other news stories especially since someone was killed, gun violence is a growing problem in the cities, and because it affects residents who live in Minneapolis.