Friday, September 18, 2009
What gets covered.
It seems like all I have heard about in any news outlet this week has been the murder of Annie Le. The Yale student was found stuffed behind a wall, brutally suffocated and murdered on the day she was supposed to be married. This story is obviously horrific but what exactly made it headline news for an entire week? Please don't misunderstand what I'm asking. I think what happened to this young girl is inexcusable and her murderer should rot in hell. But, as awful as it is, people are brutally murdered everyday. What makes certain crimes headline worthy? Was it the fact that she was young and defenseless? Pretty? About to be married? I don't know the answers to these questions but I think its something worth considering. If this had been a black man and woman would it have had the same effect on the media? What if Annie Le had been white instead of Asian? What if the suspect had been black instead of white? Would any of these factors affect the way we interpret the story? Its just something that came to mind in regards to this class.
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I find myself wondering the same thing when I read the newspaper or watch the news. And of course, your questions are entirely legitimate. The media makes it seem as if the missing or murdered are always attractive, upper class, young individuals.
ReplyDeleteI'm guess that the Yale factor and the to-be-married-that-week factor both gave this story "legs." I think you make some fair questions here. There's way more pain in the world than can ever fully, accurately, fairly get covered in 30 or 60 minutes, I'm afraid...
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