Now I can finally have Closure!
So we are living in a world of terrorism, religious conflict, corporate greed and killer diseases, yet the #1 most talked about news story right now isn't about government or even the Arab-Israeli conflict...nope, it's Jonbenet Ramsey and her suspected killer, a pedophile named John Mark Karr. It's amazing to me how these news stations are so willing to give us all kinds of mundane details (as in the dinner of Pate, green salad with walnut dressing, fried king prawns...all while sitting in business class for a flight from Thailand to the US.) about a man accused for a crime that happened 10 years ago. Yes, it was sad that a little girl was killed, but there are so many unsolved murders of young children and teenagers in every inner city and we NEVER hear anything on CNN about a murder in the projects. But when a little rich white girl is killed in Boulder, we're forced to hear about it for a decade!
What bothers me most about this is the fact that it's basically the same as Natalee Holloway. Not the case itself, but the sensationalized media coverage and insane number of minutes dedicated to updating this "breaking story". Obviously I am not a huge fan of the cable news media, as it has done nothing to inform or inspire (as NPR does) me...well, except for the inspiration to go on rants about how horrible the cable news media is, but seriously guys, a 10-year old case? The little 6 year old girl who was murdered would be 16 today. Why can't this be a more private matter, only for those who really follow this case to find out? I don't see why this wasn't just included on the news ticker, you know, like they do for coups in Africa or major developments in congress or the Supreme Court. And I especially didn't need to know about how nice John Mark Karr's flight from Thailand to LA was.
So all this talk about his luxurious flight from Thailand makes me want to get arrested for a child's murder. Then I could have business class accomodations and a few glasses of wine for free, or at least that's what I now believe thanks to the media coverage. So if this ends up being true, which is not really 100% certain yet, what will we learn from this? First, Karr has not murdered her...at least not officially yet, so don't call him a murderer yet. That's the main thing that bothers me about these kinds of cases. In this case, the life of this guy isn't being ruined simply for being accused (his life already sucked), but what about the Van Der Sloot boys in the Halloway case?
Once you're accused of a murder, you're always a suspected killer. Karr doesn't have much to fall back on either; he has a long history of erratic behavior, interest in young girls and was rumored to be in Thailand to change his sex. So this isn't exactly a valued member of society with some great life, but he is obvioulsly not someone who can be fully trusted/believed when he's making claims. People confess to crimes that they had nothing to do with all the time. Sometimes because they actually believe that they were involved, sometimes for attention, sometimes because they're simply deranged. Now I am not saying he's innocent, but let's wait for the evidence to come back and for the trial to complete before we convict this guy.
I just don't get CNN or any of those other cable news networks. They spend hours talking about "Broken Borders" (Lou Dobbs) and Natalee Holloway/JonBenet Ramsey while nobody even mentions 99% of what goes on in the rest of the world, and very little of what goes on here. While the Daily Show did mention John Mark Karr, it was more about lampooning the news than it was to inform us. However, I do learn about developments in healthcare reform and voter districting, which is much more important. Because honestly, who cares if JonBenet's murder is solved other than her family? It affects very few people especially because of her young age. In fact, the only people who feel relief about this arrest are those who were suspected 10 years ago (parents, older brother) and the cops who took 10 years to solve a murder. So while there are spree killers in Seattle and Phoenix, most people don't know about it because a pedophile got to fly business class from Thailand to LA.
I'm just so glad that they finally solved JonBenet's murder because I've not slept a wink since Christmas of 1996 worrying about it. Maybe now I'll be able to get 8 hours sleep in a night.
What bothers me most about this is the fact that it's basically the same as Natalee Holloway. Not the case itself, but the sensationalized media coverage and insane number of minutes dedicated to updating this "breaking story". Obviously I am not a huge fan of the cable news media, as it has done nothing to inform or inspire (as NPR does) me...well, except for the inspiration to go on rants about how horrible the cable news media is, but seriously guys, a 10-year old case? The little 6 year old girl who was murdered would be 16 today. Why can't this be a more private matter, only for those who really follow this case to find out? I don't see why this wasn't just included on the news ticker, you know, like they do for coups in Africa or major developments in congress or the Supreme Court. And I especially didn't need to know about how nice John Mark Karr's flight from Thailand to LA was.
So all this talk about his luxurious flight from Thailand makes me want to get arrested for a child's murder. Then I could have business class accomodations and a few glasses of wine for free, or at least that's what I now believe thanks to the media coverage. So if this ends up being true, which is not really 100% certain yet, what will we learn from this? First, Karr has not murdered her...at least not officially yet, so don't call him a murderer yet. That's the main thing that bothers me about these kinds of cases. In this case, the life of this guy isn't being ruined simply for being accused (his life already sucked), but what about the Van Der Sloot boys in the Halloway case?
Once you're accused of a murder, you're always a suspected killer. Karr doesn't have much to fall back on either; he has a long history of erratic behavior, interest in young girls and was rumored to be in Thailand to change his sex. So this isn't exactly a valued member of society with some great life, but he is obvioulsly not someone who can be fully trusted/believed when he's making claims. People confess to crimes that they had nothing to do with all the time. Sometimes because they actually believe that they were involved, sometimes for attention, sometimes because they're simply deranged. Now I am not saying he's innocent, but let's wait for the evidence to come back and for the trial to complete before we convict this guy.
I just don't get CNN or any of those other cable news networks. They spend hours talking about "Broken Borders" (Lou Dobbs) and Natalee Holloway/JonBenet Ramsey while nobody even mentions 99% of what goes on in the rest of the world, and very little of what goes on here. While the Daily Show did mention John Mark Karr, it was more about lampooning the news than it was to inform us. However, I do learn about developments in healthcare reform and voter districting, which is much more important. Because honestly, who cares if JonBenet's murder is solved other than her family? It affects very few people especially because of her young age. In fact, the only people who feel relief about this arrest are those who were suspected 10 years ago (parents, older brother) and the cops who took 10 years to solve a murder. So while there are spree killers in Seattle and Phoenix, most people don't know about it because a pedophile got to fly business class from Thailand to LA.
I'm just so glad that they finally solved JonBenet's murder because I've not slept a wink since Christmas of 1996 worrying about it. Maybe now I'll be able to get 8 hours sleep in a night.
posted by Dan Pasternack at 4:59 PM
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