We’re updating our list of local papers that have reported online on the upcoming vigil for hate crime victim Ryan Skipper:
- Lakeland Ledger: No.
- Winter Haven News Chief: Yes
- Orlando Sentinel: Yes.
- Tampa Tribune: No
As you can see, we added the Tampa Tribune to the list. A concerned citizen contacted a reporter at the Tribune to ask why the paper had not covered the vigil. According to the caller, the reporter said he hadn’t heard about the vigil. Perhaps the news release from Equality Florida was misdirected to the wrong department.
Update: A source close to the organization of the vigil locally says the Tribune plans to cover it.
We also updated the list to show that News Chief, one of the two news services based in Polk County, has covered the details of Saturday’s events via its website, polkonline.com:
Statewide vigils are scheduled for Saturday to honor 25-year-old Ryan Skipper, whose body was found near Wahneta early on March 14…
Equality Florida, an organization dedicated to securing equality and justice for the state’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, will assist with vigil plans, in Polk County, around the state and possibly in other parts of the nation Saturday to mourn Skipper’s death…
The Polk County vigil will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday in Winter Haven at Central Park, located on Central Avenue at Fourth and Fifth streets. For details, call 813-849-3919 or russ@eqfl.org.
The Lakeland Ledger continues to ignore or be unaware of the upcoming vigils. (I’m planning a separate article on this later.)
Local Coverage of the Lack of Local Coverage
Our coverage of the local media’s lack of coverage of the murder of Ryan Skipper has been noticed by a writer at Lakelandlocal.com:
[Posts] at the Pensito Review are proving a point about local newspapers. The public hasn’t written them off yet. The newspaper is where we expect to find local news. Not 60 Seconds of Local News at Six. We’re looking for The Ledger to cover the CSX story and Pensito Review is asking why the Ledger hasn’t mention the vigils for Ryan Skipper to be held Saturday in 13 Florida cities and Washington, D.C.
>Perhaps the news release from Equality Florida was misdirected to the wrong department.