Baltimore Election Coverage
Today is the primary election in Baltimore - and it's a big one. In this city, where more than 75% of the electorate are registered Democrats, whoever wins today is guaranteed a seat in city hall.
So here's what has me stumped: There doesn't appear to be updated coverage at the Baltimore Sun. I checked in first this morning to see what would be covered digitally. There was a blog that'd been set up previously and a page with audio and video links, but not much content.
(Curiously, when I hovered over the play button on the video, the words "ponte el cinturón" appeared. My Spanish isn't as good as my Japanese, but I'm pretty sure that "cinturón" means belt...I'm supposed to point my belt??)
Checked back in at 12:15, and the main story was about how folks aren't voting. Yes, yes, there's coverage. And this baltimoresun.com elections page went live a long time ago and is full of great information.
I'm just dumbfounded as to why there's no ongoing coverage today. This would have been a good time to involve citizen reporters. I've been at work in my office all day, and even I would have had at least one entry:
8:10 am: On the way from the gym to our polling station, we were ambushed by both challenger Don Dewar and councilman Jim Craft, who so feverishly waved at us and yelled "good morning" that my other half, a doctor, was seriously concerned about impending seizure. It was the most aggressive morning greeting of my life - and it made us both want to run away from the voting machines, good and fast.
It's now 3:29 pm, and the blog hasn't been updated since 10:30 am. To be fair, reporter John Fritze did a hell of a job yesterday posting colorful stories leading up to the election. There's a new video and a handful of pics, but that's about it.
Now I know what a newsroom looks like on election day and it ain't pretty. At the same time, there are a dozen quick, easy ways to post content online to cover a breaking news event. I guess I was hoping for more of a story than...folks aren't voting, so there is no story. Interactive maps? Comments from candidates throughout the day?
More later...
