Thus far, most Denver media outlets are missing local connection to George Weber murder

When the latest rash of layoffs, cutbacks and buyouts struck newspaper and TV outlets a few years ago, journalists worried about a loss of "institutional knowledge" -- reporters, producers or editors who'd been around town long enough that they could connect all the dots when a news event took place. The death of former Denver radio personality George Weber, noted in this More Messages blog, provides a perfect example. Weber's Denver broadcasting stint isn't ancient history -- he was a sizable name here in the '90s, and he even filled in at KOA earlier this year, according to a page on his personal website. But even though word of his passing broke in the New York press yesterday, most news agencies here (aside from Clear Channel stations, naturally) haven't made note of his past prominence in Colorado. Exceptions: Channel 9 posted a small item mentioning Weber's time at KOA, and Channel 4 included a brief mention during its morning newscast -- although I was unable to find a text version of the story during a search of the station's site moments ago. Likewise, I didn't get a hit on the Boulder Daily Camera website. And while the Denver Post put up two snippets from the Associated Press yesterday -- one a stand-alone piece, the other a blurb featured in a national oblituaries-in-the-news feature -- neither cited Weber's Denver history. Presumably, then, the staffers at the Post who processed the AP information didn't recognize Weber's name or the local news hook attached to it. That's yet another side effect of the economic troubles being experienced by traditional media.