LAist's editor makes the calls

A couple of weeks back I was on a blogging panel with LAist editor Zach Behrens and came to appreciate that he makes more phone calls than most bloggers, often checking in with an LAPD source or two before he posts about crime in the city. It struck me that Behrens is doing what police beat reporters have always done. More fuzzing of the line that some insist divides blogging and journalism? You bet. Today, Behrens rubs out the line even more definitively by talking to the concerned mother of 14-year-old Andrea Wilson-Smith, missing from the Athens-Westmont neighborhood since going out to the family car about 10 pm on Tuesday night. It was his first time talking to a frightened, distraught parent — the kind of call that some hardened reporters never get used to making. The blog, and perhaps even the L.A. blogosphere, is better for it. From Behrens' post:

That night, the family drove around for an hour as the LAPD brought out a helicopter to look for people walking in the streets. Andrea was not found and it was presumed that she had gotten into a car. Detective Lee says running away is one possibility but most runaways are constantly running away--Andrea has never done so. In fact, Andrea, who would have been entering her freshmen year yesterday, is home-schooled. "I don't know what to think. She's not a kid who ever spent a night away from home," her mother explained.

Behrens tells me, "I rarely see the LA Times printing these missing people stories the LAPD sends releases out for, complete with a photo. Let's see if this awakens them b/c they obviously have a much further reach into South LA than LAist does." As he posts, anyone with information is asked to call 77th Street detective Harry Lee at (213) 485-4156. On weekends or after hours, call the toll free 24-hour anonymous number at 1-877-LAWFULL (529-3855).