Monday, June 25, 2007

News media and murderers Part 2 - 6.25.2007.2

Continued from News media and murderers Part 1 ...

Either issue is reprehensible. Neither victim deserved their fate, and the guilty should be punished. But I wonder why the media chose the Davis case to smother the airwaves. I agree that when there is the chance of finding Jessie Davis, attention is due. But the media was focused equally during that time to question Mr. Cutts. I know about every child of Mr. Cutts, his relationships, why he was fired, allegations of abuse, and allegations of improper actions as an officer of law. Right now, at 1:46, pundits on Fox News are declaring how they always knew there was guilt but had to maintain the pretense of innocence until proven guilty.

Conversely I ask, what do you know about Mr. Christopher Vaughn?Photo found at http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stcharles/story/991B62BA7C53C90586257303005CB398?OpenDocument
This man has allegedly killed his wife and 3 children in cold blood. He is in police custody and has been charged with 8 counts. Do you know where he lived? What he does for a living? His past? If you can’t answer those questions you have to ask why.

Both acts, I say again, are evil. I would never stick up for anyone capable of this. But I am questioning why the media picked one case over the other, which is what has been done. Why can anyone watching the news tell me more about Mr. Cutts, but can barely recall the name of Mr. Vaughn?

The differences are this, Mr. Vaughn was the father of 3 children, none toddlers. He is White, married to one wife (to my knowledge), a computer forensics advisor, that moved to the Chicago area about a year ago. Mr. Cutts I described in part above, but he has been cover enough that I don’t feel the need to repeat.

So far today I have heard Mr. Cutts compared to Mr. Scott Peterson and Mr.OJ Simpson. Mrs. E.D. Hill on Fox News spent about 3 minutes or so re-evaluating photos of Mr. Cutts, inferring that his guilt should have been apparent immediately. I’ve seen one photo of Mr. Vaughn, that could have been a mugshot, with no commentary on it.

If either of these men is guilty of the charges placed against them, I have no problem seeing them sped quickly to the hell they would deserve. But my point is not about guilt. I am speaking about the media, and the preferences they pose to the public. The ramifications go much farther than these alleged killers.

Stepping away from the emotion of the cases, you have to wonder why. I do at least.

This is what I think, what do you think?

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