The Shame of It All
There was an arrest in the JonBenet murder case. Unless you’re living under a rock right now, you already know the details, so I’ll spare you that. The man confessed, and prosecutors are pretty sure they’ve got their man.
Then again, they thought that ten years ago when they thought the girl’s parents did it. The “umbrella of suspicion” the Ramsey family lived under created horrid tabloid headlines – JonBenet’s Family Suspects; The Ramseys Are Guilty, Experts Say; Parents Actions Point to Guilt; Father’s Story Doesn’t Add Up….
No, these were not actual tabloid headlines. Worse, they were headlines from all of our major news sources. News. You know, that stuff we read or hear in order to get a clear picture of what’s happening in the world. Our media, the one we tend to believe verbatim, jumped on the sensationalist bandwagon yet one more time. Tragically, as in countless cases before this one, they were all wrong.
I’m ashamed of my media. I’m ashamed of being a journalist alongside those who make light of a person’s right to the “innocent until proven guilty” promise we hold so dear. It’s disappeared, folks, along with our integrity. If we cannot remain unbiased in what is arguably an emotionally-charged situation where a pretty little girl is murdered, that says way too much about our need for the adrenaline rush and the “scoop” factor. It also speaks volumes about just how low we allow ourselves to go. Truth in journalism? Hardly. I cannot read any news account these days without reading what appears to be a stretching of facts in order to sell papers.
Let me tell you a quick story – once I worked at a local newspaper covering local government. At one particular meeting, a reporter from another newspaper was sitting beside me. A question was asked, an answer was given, and I was able to take away a fair account of what had transpired. However, when I opened the other newspaper the next day, the story written about the meeting was so far off base that I wondered if this reporter was prone to hallucinations. Not only was the quote wrong (big YIKES), but the facts surrounding the original question were skewed in such a way that the story suddenly became something else, and the story was now front-page news. That, my friends, is sensationalism in order to sell newspapers. It’s wrong and it sucks.
If a news outlet has to sensationalize in order to stay in business, it should fold. Immediately. I’ve long felt that the media should not EVER base its news content on ratings or customer polls. It should report factually and accurately. Beyond that, the media should stay neutral. However, that’s not what we have here, nor do I suspect it will ever be that way. I almost laugh when I hear people scoffing at the “tabloids” or “supermarket rags” as if the content in our newspapers and magazines is any less sensationalized. Sadly, I must wonder to myself – do they mean the National Enquirer or the local paper? In my view, I see little difference these days. And shame on all of us for putting up with it.
Lori, excellent points and well stated. I love reading your blog!
Kristen
I agree absolutely. I’m actually going to switch newspapers because the one I’ve read for the last few years reads like a supermarket tabloid instead of a serious newspaper.