This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

The Popularity of Patch's Police Log

Patch offers readers all things local, but by golly, nothing can grab more attention than the coveted Police Log that runs several times throughout the week. Why? Can someone tell me the reason why?

It’s been nearly two years since the South County Patch sites launched our grass roots online source for all things local. I was and still am thrilled to be a part of it!

From my very first ThiNK Family column alongside the many community based articles I’ve written since October 2010, when folks in town discuss our internet presence for all the latest, local happenings which are updated every 24 hours, I smile and love to acknowledge the time, effort and journalistic thought that go into making this type of news source resonate with our interested and supportive reader base.

As an author and writer, I continually set professional goals for myself and measure them throughout the year. My niche is family humor based pieces, for which I have no problem putting myself (and sometimes my unsuspecting family!) on that very public front line where I know accolades as well as criticism are just part of the job.

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I’ve written off the cuff, from the heart – when feeling ecstatic, confused, vulnerable, feisty, or frustrated – but no matter what personal or community-based subjects I write and share with our readers, I always, always do so from a place of honesty and pleasure: meaning that even if I reach only one, single reader with my thoughts, (that including myself) I’ve spent my time wisely and look forward to my next written piece.

Getting back to those professional goals of mine—when I was a newbie writer more than 15 years ago, when anything I wrote was published, I would wait anxiously for some type of feedback. (Silly me!) Regardless of whether it was positive or negative, if a comment was made, that meant someone was reading my work. Writing for magazines, newspapers and other printed professional venues means there is usually a one-month wait to see if someone, anyone, will chide in about the submitted piece.

Find out what's happening in North Kingstownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Writing for online publications such as Patch changes that wait time completely, because within minutes of being published, readers can chime in with praise or criticism in just seconds.

And in addition to that, writers can see where their articles rate in the popularity poll, because the five most read pieces are listed for all to see.

I used to joke with our local Patch editors about how some day, one of my stories would beat the coveted police log by a landslide, and they, being the great editors that they are, assured me it wasn’t my writing style or material that was losing to this weekly report of people who were busted. It was simply the nature of the beast—curiosity as to who did what in our own backyard and got caught doing so was and sadly, that would probably always would be the draw.

SIGH!

I won’t lie to you—I’ve had a very difficult time coming to terms with this whole police log popularity thing. I’ve scoured dozens of other Patch sites and found that this is the case all across the country, not just here in South County.

That, in some diminutive way, has offered me a tad bit of comfort. But in all honesty, my subconscious and heart tell me that’s "crap," and I should be bothered by what this says about the state of priorities in our communities and in what we really feel is compelling to follow.

So loyal readers, I’m going out on a limb today by asking you all to take a few quick seconds to respond as to why you feel police log is the most popular read on Patch. I promise I won’t be offended if you want to spit on my column or other “local people and business-oriented” articles that I produce. I just want to understand what it is, other than curiosity that beckons folks to be so enamored with this piece of the Patch puzzle.

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The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?