Folo on Cupid

No, that's not a typo. In journalism, it's cq for follow-up.

Anyway...

Well, I was going to post a link to the FLAT story about an "incident" from late Friday (technically Saturday). This could be what kept the boy in Downtown, but doesn't explain why he Still. Hasn't. Called. And. Today is. Thursday.

In brief, a man was beaten in the parking lot near the place where the boy said he was. He said his car was in the parking lot. This man was beaten up some time after his third drink at the bar, and possibly because he's gay.

I know. It doesn't explain anything. In fact, it raises questions, and maybe red flags.

Reading the story was tough. It made me so angry; this man did not deserve this. No person does. The cop said the man was bleeding so heavily, it seemed that he had been shot. All, possibly, because of the man's sexual orientation.

Another thing that angers me: I asked the reporter on Saturday what happened. "We don't have a record of anything. If we did, I'd follow it up, trust me." This reporter is a friend. And this story, in tomorrow's paper, is the first we've covered on this story that I've known about since late Friday night. Looking at it that way, I'm greatly bothered that we dropped the ball. My boss said Metro has been told the cops reporters do a crappy job, and Metro doesn't change. Metro doesn't care.

How can we be taken seriously when we can't do what are considered basic stories? The cops beat is typically the first rung on the reporting ladder. Maybe it shouldn't be, with all the liability from libel, but it is. And we don't care about it.

I should not have worked on V-day.