Question for Miami Herald staffers...

Here's a question for any Miami Herald staffer who cares to answer: Who in the hell is in charge over there in Doral? And when did the Herald stop covering news? 

I ask that because for the past month and a half I've been reading the print edition of the paper...something I haven't done in almost 15 years.

But after holding the print product in my hand for the entire month of November and part of December, I'm not at all surprised that subscribers are abandoning the paper in droves.

Sunday night, five people were wounded after someone fired shots from a Chevy SUV into the courtyard of an Overtown apartment building. Sunday's shooting was just the latest incident in the ongoing orgy of violence that continues to plague the Overtown/Liberty City neighborhoods.

Herald editors gave the story three paragraphs on page 3B.

Chuck Rabin's online version of the story made mention of three other shootings that have taken place since 2012 that have left four dead and dozens wounded. But that information was edited out of the story that appeared in print.

Miami Herald, Dec. 16, 2014. 

So what story did Herald editors decide was more important than one of heavily-armed thugs continuing to hold a neighborhood hostage? Some idiotic nonsense on the most popular Google searches performed by Miamians in 2014.

Also relegated to the inside pages of Tuesday's Herald, was the horrific story of seven men arrested for allegedly kidnapping a 16-year-old schoolgirl and forcing her to take drugs and have sex with as many as 16 men over the course of a week.

Of course, had the 16-year-old rape victim been a student at Ransom Everglades, the story would almost certainly have been treated with a little more urgency and given more prominent play.

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Earlier on Random Pixels: 'We are unglued' - Miami Herald continues to treat some South Florida neighborhoods as though they don't exist

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And what story did Herald editors decide was more important than the kidnapping and repeated gang-rape of a 16-year-old schoolgirl?

This crap....fluff...

Miami Herald, Dec. 16, 2014, page 1A.

But by now, long-time readers of the Herald have grown accustomed to skimpy, or non-existent coverage of certain kinds of stories. And things are bound to get worse.

Over the past few months no fewer than 9 long-time staffers, most with decades of experience, have either retired or taken buyouts.

One staffer - a photographer with more than 30 years of service - was fired under mysterious circumstances.

Reporter Ina Cordle - a 20 year Herald veteran - is leaving the paper's skeletal business staff to join The Real Deal, a real estate website. Her last day at the paper is December 26.

Cammy Clark, the Herald's long-time Key West bureau chief lost her job after her position was eliminated.

For coverage of Keys news, the Herald will now rely on dispatches from the weekly Florida Keys Reporter, and twice-weekly Keynoter.