Regional Media Goes Nuts Over Stolen Jesus

No news is bad news, right Fredericksburg?

Well take heart, because Fredericksburg has gotten a ton of exposure over the last few days as news organizations across the Mid-Atlantic have scrambled to get a piece of the . 

(Update - 10:30 a.m. - )

The story has made quite a splash with Washington, D.C. media outlets. 

WTOP's story goes for a blunt lede, reading "someone stole baby Jesus", and promised to update followers on the story via twitter. 

TV stations tripped over themselves to get exclusive footage of the vacant Nativity. Washington, D.C. Fox affiliate WTTG Channel 5 sent reporter Beth Parker who produced a piece full of vox pop outrage. It was the top story for ABC affiliate WRIC Channel 8 in Richmond, whose Kim Schumacher interviewed Fredericksburg Police Spokesperson Natatia Bledsoe about the crime. 

Among TV stations, Washington, D.C. NBC affiliate WNBC Channel's coverage stands out from the crowd. They dispatched the incomparable Pat Collins to chew up the story and spit out heart wrenching, engaging coverage in melodramatic overtones normally reserved for soap opera narration. God bless Pat Collins for his unconventional, gripping style. 

Perhaps trying to rival Collins in the emotional outrage department is Washington, D.C. ABC affiliate WJLA, whose Stephen Tschida managed to find a vox pop who equated the theft with the war on Christmas. 

The story was also picked up by D.C.'s NPR affiliate, WAMU 88.5 FM, as well as Richmond CBS affiliate WTVR Channel 6, who ask "what kind of person" would steal a baby Jesus figurine. Gannett's Washinton D.C. TV website ran the story as a  web-brief.

The Richmond Times Dispatch even got in on the action, asking readers if they have "seen the baby Jesus.