And this is newsworthy?

[Generator Man]

"Cops arrest house robber
03/10/2008 18:47 - (SA)

Cape Town - Police have arrested a 28-year-old house robber armed with a knife in Observatory.

Sergeant Hilton Malila said three men armed with knives broke into a house in Roman road and threatened the residents on Thursday.

When they showed reluctance to hand over their belongings, there was a struggle in which one of them was stabbed in his right hand.

Police later arrested one of the robbers and recovered a cellphone and MP3 player in his possession.

He was expected to appear in the Cape Town Magistrate's Court on Monday.

The other two robbers fled with a cellphone"

Either the ineptitude of our forces of order is such that this deserves celebration, or our press need to receive a ma se ****klap.

 

[lion_fish]

Of course its news worthy. Arrests are so rare in SA most people probably dont know what that is anymore...

 

[.Froot.]

Hmm... I was called two weeks ago via radio.... guy running around in our area. We arrested the bugger, found out he was an alien. So they sending him back to darkest Africa....

 

[aadil-old]

There a more billionaires in the world then murder convictions in SA.

I know there's something more I'd like to say but I just don't care enough to say it.

 

[TMoose]

I don't really get why this shouldn't be news worthy?

 

[gregmcc]

Any news where these scum are arrested/beaten/killed should be front page. Makes a change from seeing other violent crimes makes the headlines.

Good on the police!

 

[Generator Man]

Fair enough, good on the police. But the arrest of a couple of robbers being on the headlines? what about the 50-odd people killed in SA every day, those are not worth a mention?

Come on people. Arresting of common burglars should be something common, especially with the number of burglaries that happen in SA every day.

 

[pos(t)er]

Firstly, it IS news, as it is something that actually happenend in our society.

Secondly, it may serve to cull all those who blame the press of only reporting on the negative.

Thirdly, define newsworthy.

 

[.Froot.]

I would rather they reported all of these making a very big list of crimes. That way the voloume of crime would be at the top of our minds every time we opened a newspaper or a news page on the web. At the moment we are all getting used to it which only suits the government and the minister because then it loses urgency.

Unfortunately the police aren't allowed to publish the statistics as they come along.

 

[TMoose]

I do not think it should make the news, either.

A policeman's job is to combat crime, apprehend suspects and criminals and to promote safety and security. Do we need a news report every time someone does what they are paid to do in any event?

That would be akin to a report saying Dr So-and-So did an operation today, or the PA of the CEO made a phone call and typed a few letters today. WFT? Stating the obvious!

Ah, I see, so we only have to report it then when people don't do their jobs? As I see it if they publish every criminal that gets caught and show their faces every night on tv saying "so and so - shot and killed by police during house robbery" the perception might arise that its near impossible to get away with crime.

Not only do I think a newspaper story about a house robbery in which somebody was stabbed is newsworthy, but I think people in the area should be made aware that house robberies are taking place in their neighbourhood / street and that some of the suspects are still at large. If something like this happened near me I'd want to know about it and I would indeed consider it newsworthy.