Tuesday, it was the sentencing of Ann Miller Kontz in the poisoning of her husband. The coverage took up most of the front page and a full page inside, with three stories and three pictures. On Wednesday, the lead story in the paper was about the investigation of a Michigan murder that might involve the suspect in the Stephanie Bennett killing in Raleigh. On Thursday, it was the temporary stay of execution for convicted murderer Steven Van McHone, who was executed Friday.

The spate of front-page crime stories follows what seemed a run of local violence coverage, prominently displayed: the arrest of Drew Planten in the Bennett killing, the 100-year sentence of child pornographer Brian Tod Schellenberger, the N.C. State fraternity fire that killed two students, the murder/suicide of a Sanford family.

Some readers were distressed by all the dreary news. Dot Cansler of Chapel Hill was put off by two days of front-page coverage in the Planten arrest: "Why did it deserve having pictures two days in a row in the middle of the front page?" she asked. "I don't like it. I think it cheapens the newspaper." Art Schaeffer of Holly Springs was among several readers who reacted to the Sanford coverage, which involved an elderly man killing his disabled wife and daughter, then himself: "Who are we to judge this man and sensationalize the event by placing it on the front page of your newspaper?" he asked.

Their comments caused me to wonder whether the paper was indeed giving more coverage to crime news as a matter of policy. The recent stories coincided with the paper's creation of a "breaking news team," comprising an editor and six reporters, to enable the paper to cover fast-moving news better. The members are drawn from existing teams in the newsroom. Does that mean a new focus on "if it bleeds, it leads" journalism?

No, say Executive Editor Melanie Sill and Richard Stradling, the new "breaking news editor" (he and I both hope that position finds a better title). The purpose is to be better positioned to move quickly when news happens. Newspapers have traditionally enjoyed the luxury of having up to a full day to get a story ready for publication. But in the Internet age, readers won't wait a day for news when they can get it instantly either online or from television or radio. The pressure is on The N&O to pump out news early and regularly during the day on its online site, www.newsobserver.com.

"This relates more to what we're doing online and the increasing need for us to move more quickly on breaking news during the day," Sill said of the new team. "There hasn't been a change in our thinking about how to play crime stories."

Just to check, I went back and looked at The N&O's coverage this year, before and after the new team came along in October. The number of local crime stories on the front page ranged from two in March to 17 in August, with no discernible pattern of increase or decrease. There were nine front-page crime stories in October and five so far in November. What happened in August? Recall the Timothy Johnson "tailgate shootings" trial, plus an unusual outbreak of shootings, domestic violence and a truck/train collision.

Obviously, the volume of crime coverage is determined by the amount and nature of crime that occurs in a given period. The paper doesn't have any control over that, although editors do determine how much display to give a story. That's a factor of what other news occurs on any given day, and how big a deal the editors think a story is. They obviously thought the Johnson, Bennett and Kontz stories were important, and my guess is those stories registered pretty high on the reader-interest scale. Ann Miller Kontz deciding to plead guilty to poisoning her husband, after five years of denials, has the elements of both drama and surprise. Sensational is not too strong a word.

Still I think it's true, as Sill says, that The N&O is not giving more coverage to crime and violence than before. We've always covered major crimes stories intensively. When I came to The N&O as a reporter in the 1970s, the Jeffrey MacDonald murder case at Fort Bragg dominated the front pages for what seemed like years. And think of the Mike Peterson trial two years ago in Durham. These are high-interest stories and, yes, they sell newspapers.

I think a paper has to be careful, though, to keep the crime stuff in a broader perspective of informing and educating readers toward a higher purpose, like participating in democracy. I was surprised, for example, to see in Wednesday's paper the local election story playing second fiddle on the front page to the Michigan murder investigation.

The best crime coverage, I think, is reporting that offers broader meaning to the mayhem. In the Sanford killings, the story was not so much about blood and bodies as about the desperation of an 80-year-old man at the end of his rope trying to care for a wife with Alzheimer's disease and a daughter with Down syndrome. Afterward, reporter Bonnie Rochman did a follow-up on how widespread the caregiving problem is and how people can cope.

"What I'm looking for is what I would consider the 'breaking enterprise' story," said Stradling, her editor. "It comes out of the event, but it's an option. It's not a story you have to do. I hope we do more of that kind of thing."

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