As someone who grew up in Roanoke and still visits quite often... It's not what you would normally picture as a small town. The city of Roanoke has a population of ~90,000 and the metropolitan area brings it well over 100,000. Since Radford University and Virginia Tech are the largest universities in the area, they get considerable play in the Roanoke Times/World News. However, like most newspapers, they will sensationalize news items if it will benefit circulation.
Bill ----- Original Message ----- From: "Treena" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, June 15, 2003 6:43 PM Subject: Re: Did you hear the one about Bob Shell? > Oh, I very much doubt that. You'd be surprised at what goes on regularly in > small towns, and what the cops find on a regular basis. A LARGE portion of > the weirdness in this country is in its small towns, and if I were to > describe to you some of the stuff that has gone on in our little town of > 2,500 over just the last three or four years, you probably wouldn't believe > half of it. I'm sure the locals have known all about him and his exploits > over the years - more than even he suspects. There's no hiding anything in a > small town. But, you're probably right about the coverage - they're probably > sticking very closely to just the known facts. One wrong move in a story > right now, and it's a huge potential lawsuit waiting to happen. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Peter Alling" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Sunday, June 15, 2003 5:06 PM > Subject: Re: Did you hear the one about Bob Shell? > > > > I doubt that it is as simple as all that. Roanoke is still a small town. > > You're dealing > > with a local paper, not the New York Post or Daily News, it is most likely > > they toned down > > their report rather than playing up the more sensational aspects of the > > case to spare the > > local populaces's sensibilities. In which case you have to read between > > the lines it seems > > to me they were hinting that local police were able to piece together a > > very bizarre scene. > > There is another possibility, if as Greywolf says Shell was producing > > "pornography", real > > or imagined the local prosecutor may be out to make Roanoke "safe for God > > Fearing people". > >
