E-Media Tidbits

LAtimes.com The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report blog covers all local homicides, not just unusual or sensational ones.

The blog's premise is simple but compelling: Leovy covers every homicide reported in Los Angeles County -- where nearly 1100 homicides occur yearly. On Feb. 13, the blog also started covering homicides in Orange County, as well. According to the about page, Homicide Report "seeks to reverse an age-old paradox of big-city crime reporting, which dictates that only the most unusual and statistically marginal homicide cases receive press coverage, while those cases at the very eye of the storm -- those which best expose the true statistical dimensions of the problem of deadly violence -- remain hidden."

Most homicides are covered in just a paragraph, in compilation postings. The blog also covers updates on cold cases, such as the four-year-old killing of Irma Gaxiola. Other case updates are reported as dispatches. And there's discussion of homicide-related issues, such as: Are there fewer homicides when it rains?

While comments are allowed, this blog really isn't about conversation between blogger and community. Leovy focuses on traditional reporting, and doesn't seem to respond to comments so far. Surprisingly for such an emotional and contentious topic, this blog is attracting very few comments so far.

I asked Leovy about the dearth of comments. She said, "Oddly enough, comments have dropped off even as traffic on the site skyrockets. In a very short time, the blog has become relatively heavily trafficked -- second only to the Lakers Blog among LA Times blogs, or so the Web folks tell me."

Leovy reports uniform information about each homicide (race, gender, location of killing or where the body was found). I asked her whether she'd considered augmenting her blog with an updating Google map of homicides, and/or a tally of current homicide statistics.

Leovy replied, "We are databasing all of the information on the site, and hope to add maps and interactive functions at a later date, when we have some time to develop them. I have tried adding Google maps, but it's just so time consuming to do that for each posting, and it's just me, by myself, doing this site right now. ...I did a lot of research before starting this, looking at Chicago Crime and other sites. It turns out dots on maps get boring to people pretty quickly. Those sites get a lot of novelty traffic, then people lose interest. I'm guessing that reported information that's consistently new and detailed has a greater chance of holding interest, and that's what I hope to spend more time on as I get used to doing this."

LISTEN NOW to On The Media's interview with Leovy:

CORRECTION: Reader Brea Jones noted: "Murder is a legal term, and the homicides [Leovy covers] may end up being manslaughter or self-defense slayings." That's a good point. I wasn't aware of that distinction, and have corrected this posting accordingly. Thanks!