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Teen shot to death in Jamaica Plain

Victim identified as Gerrod Brown, 16.

Shot in the chest shortly before midnight at 944 Parker St. in the Mildred Hailey (formerly Bromley-Heath) project, KMV reports.

Boston Police report he was 16.

NBC Boston reports police say there appeared to be a fight between two groups and that there were a lot of shell casings on the ground.

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Comments

Both have the story of a Newton man injured in NYC more prominent than then murder of a teenager here in the city.

Classism, racism, and sensationalism are still the building blocks of the newspaper industry, regardless of the distribution channel changes.

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"More Prominent"? - coverage of a Newton man being injured by a terrorist in NYC is definitely newsworthy. I don't think classism or racism have anything to do with it. 8 people were killed by a foreign terrorist block from the 911 memorial - its BIG news.

At the same time - As a lifelong Boston Resident, I feel horrible for the family and friends of this young person in JP - it's utterly senseless and terrible. And I wish things like the Mother's Peace March got more press (and interest) throughout the year - but sadly it doesn't.

And (also sadly) it will be reflected here...In general, shootings in Boston seldom receive more than a handful of comments. But post about another presidential protest, a new residential building going up, or shadows on the Common and the UHub comment section lights up.

Both situations are horrible acts done by horrible people - both are newsworthy.

Not sure why someone's immediate reaction would be to try and twist the two into some sort of political/social/racial thing. It's just divisive and frankly a little odd.

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Did you consider that the "Newton man injured in NYC" is Latino and an immigrant?

Sensationalism? Sure -- but the terror attack in lower Manhattan is pretty much the lead story on every news program, newspaper, and news site right now. The fact that a local person was injured in the attack means that there's even more local interest in what happened.

Moreover, the murder of the teenager happened just before midnight -- at a time when most journalists are asleep. The terror attack in NYC occurred in the middle of the afternoon, in plenty of time to receive massive coverage on evening newscasts, not to mention long before print deadlines.

Is there classism? Sure. But the guy from Newton who was injured in NYC (and several of his friends were murdered by the attacker) was clearly an innocent bystander in an unusual, high-profile attack. A teenager being shot to death in "an altercation between two groups" in a poor neighborhood or the projects is unfortunately such a common story that a lot of people simply tune out.

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'A common story that a lot of people simple tune out' is the murder of a 16 year old kid. How common is it really that teenagers are murdered in the city? 2-3 times a year on average I'd estimate. I'd hope that a kid of any ethnicity getting murdered would be big news every damn time. I mean, you think the murder of a white kid would have gotten the same level of coverage? No way.

The timing issue is valid for print but c'mon - this story won't be in tomorrows paper at all.

Anyways, thoughts and prayers to his family. It's sad stuff.

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He was white, Caucasian of European descent by way of Latin America.

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The United States Census uses the ethnonym Hispanic or Latino to refer to "a person of Dominican, Cuban, Haitian, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race.

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As of 5pm, this murder of a Boston teenager has slid off the front page of the Globe and the Herald.

But please tell me more about how the papers have any interest in covering the death of some poor dead minority kid.

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When did they start publishing evening papers again? The Globe stopped in 1979 and I don’t think the Herald American ever did.

I have a lot of trouble finding the Herald in the morning. Where do you get the evening papers?

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Where they decide which stories are more relevant and important and locate those stories on their home pages accordingly. This ain't one of them.

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They aren’t treating this as breaking news and may give the story proper coverage (well, okay, the Herald will).

“Newspapers” predate the need for constant updating, predate the era of perpetual “breaking news.” If you are an instant gratification person, check out the shallow coverage the TV news outlets give. If you want to gripe about newspaper coverage, on the other hand, understand how that coverage is produced.

Also, website news coverage is usually driven by traffic, which is why Boston.com ended up what it is. That’s why a print newspaper is superior to a website any day, because thought went into the layout.

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I will note that the Jamaica Plain story broke late, so it would not have appeared in the papers today.

Now we can check back tomorrow. Sadly, you will probably be right. But for today they get a pass. Also, I will guarantee that the Herald will have more than the Globe will on this.

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Boston Globe- the murder appeared in the "police blotter" part of page 2 of the metro, paired with the Milton shooting and with less prominence than a 400 pound tuna found in the woods of Gloucester. And yes, 4 reporters are covering New York, versus the AP article from JP. Victim not identified.

Boston Herald- staff written article quoting officials, family, and family friends, but on page 12. The front page keyed in on an Inspector General report on the cost of sick and vacation leave when state employees retire.

Metro- I wasn't even looking, since they don't really do news, but on page 11 there was a State House News Service piece on the shooting. So the Metro put more effort into the murder than the Globe did. Go figure.

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They were Argentinian.

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