At the Beacon, we cover news that matters to people in the St. Louis region. But people are interested in more than what happens here. What happens in Iraq, for example, hits home whether we like it or not.
That's why the Beacon paid attention to the formal end of the U.S. combat role. As always, we tried to provide coverage that is distinctive and meaningful. In advance of President Barack Obama's speech Tuesday night, Beacon staff member Linda Lockhart asked St. Louisans to reflect on U.S. involvement in Iraq, and political reporter Jo Mannies talked to veterans. For the speech itself, we linked to national coverage we found perceptive.
Another local/national matter -- the proposed Muslim community center and mosque near Ground Zero in New York City -- was the focus of a recent story by Beacon reporter Dale Singer. St. Louisans had thoughtful comments about why this geographically distant matter had become an issue in Missouri's Senate race and a hot topic of conversation. Former Sen. Jack Danforth, an experienced international negotiator, even offered to help mediate the dispute.
I would call this story local because it was based on local sources. But someone else told me she considered it a national story because of the nature of the topic. She found it the most interesting story on the homepage at that time -- more proof that what interests St. Louis readers may originate far from home.
Rather than worry about whether a story should be categorized as local, national or international, I'm more interested in whether people here care about the topic and whether the Beacon can contribute something perceptive to the reporting and discussion. Sure, it's important to cover what happens here. But in a digitally connected world, geography alone is no longer sufficient for making decisions about news coverage.
This article originally appeared in the St. Louis Beacon.