In my opinion, it's just plain wrong

[Ed62]

Here's something that always gets to me. We have a case, locally, where a 19 year old girl has pleaded guilty to handing her boyfriend a knife to kill another man. Her boyfriend has already been sentenced to something like 75 years in jail. She hasn't been sentenced yet. But here's the thing that rubs me the wrong way:

The case has been in the local paper several times. Every time they print something about it, they make it a point to emphasize that she was a 19 year old stripper. The front page today had headlines that emphasized that point again. I know all about freedom of the press, and all that. But what bothers me is that her family must be having a hard enough time knowing that she's in deep trouble. Now they're forced to read about her being a stripper in the paper. Maybe the family is a good family, I have no idea. But I just don't think it's right for a newspaper to cause the family to suffer any more than they have to. I pray for all involved, but I'm sure others might see things differently.

Ed

[Russianwolf]

Would it be any different if the profession didn't have a negative conotation?

"Local Doctor charged with molesting a patient while under aenestesia"

"Prominent Banker accused of laundering money"

"IRS agent murders 4"

"Professional Wrestler kills family, then himself"

It was her chosen profession, and knowing a couple myself, many like it (as long as people don't cross lines).

[Ed62]

Would it be any different if the profession didn't have a negative conotation?

Let's just say that if someone put it in the paper that my daughter was a doctor, I would be pleased (if she were). If they put it in the paper that she was a hooker, it would certainly make my life miserable (whether she was or not). Yeah, I think the profession makes a huge difference. Having a daughter who is a doctor is not something for a famly to be ashamed of. Her family are victims too. Why make it worse for them?

Ed

[LCHIEN]

look at it this way, is being a stripper any worse than being a convicted accomplice to murder?



We are what we chose to be.

[cgallery]

look at it this way, is being a stripper any worse than being a convicted accomplice to murder?

We are what we chose to be.

I don't remember getting to chose. I sure as heck wouldn't have chosen this.

[DLyon]

Don't blame the paper, blame the girl. Is it embarrassing for the parents, you bet. But it's not the papers fault she chose that 'profession'.

[cgallery]

Don't blame the paper, blame the girl. Is it embarrassing for the parents, you bet. But it's not the papers fault she chose that 'profession'.

For all we know, she coulda gone into the family business.

[Pappy]

I agree with Ed on this one to a point. The fact that she was a stripper had no real connection to the crime and could influence public opinion or even sway a jury.

In Mike's first 2 examples, the doctor and banker, the crimes are tied to the professions. Same with a stock broker charged with insider trading.

When was the last time it made national news that a former soldier, airman, or sailor committed a crime? A former Marine is in the same situation, even if he was court martialed and thrown out of the Corps, and it becomes part of the story and his profile.

[Hellrazor]

Our media sucks. Period. End of story.

If the profession had nothing to do with the crime, why does it matter?


As far as the people on here looking down their nose because she was a stripper... doesn't a wonderfull book ask you not to pass judgement?

[Uncle Cracker]

Sensationalism in journalism is not a new concept, as this sort of thing has always caught peoples' eye, but I think it's more obvious nowadays because there are so many media outlets competing for that readership (and the advertising revenue), and because there's just so much more dirt out there to report...

[LCHIEN]

I don't necessarily think its sensationalism, it's partly driven by our curiousity to know.

Are we entitles to know that a murder's been committed. I think so.
Are we not curious to know, who was murdered, who is accused, why they did it?
Where do they live, are they young or old, male or female, black, white yellow, green? What did they do, a minister or a cop or an electrical engineer.
I think that's just human nature. Whether or not we form judgements, that's human nature too, a basic instinct. When you see a bee, is it natural to think, I can get stung. or a rattlesnake, we learn to avoid. It's not necessarily bigotry, its common sense to recognize certain forms of danger.

I'm not saying these things are right, I'm saying they are human nature to want to know and categorize.

[Ed62]

look at it this way, is being a stripper any worse than being a convicted accomplice to murder?

I thought that would come up. Of course being a stripper is not worse than being an accomplice to murder. But as long as the profession has nothing to do with the crime, nothing is being accomplished by printing it except to give the family more grief, and to sell a few more papers. The girl's loved ones have been hurt enough by her actions. I guess I just care about people's feelings a little more than most.

Ed

[Uncle Cracker]

...nothing is being accomplished by printing it except to give the family more grief, and to sell a few more papers.

Exactly. The media has no conscience, and no motivation beyond their own goals. Better get used to it, because it isn't going to change.

[billwmeyer]

The media used to try to be a responsible reporting agency. Now it is all about impact. It seems like all the media is now tabloid journalism, although many of it is worse than others. I think the impact of the OJ run down the freeway, and his trial has been a big influence on what the media has become.

One other thing that really gripes me is when the media makes a big front page story about something, and then when it is proven wrong, puts a little bitty correction notice in some obscure spot. They need to take the blame as strongly as the credit.

Bill

[DLyon]

nothing is being accomplished by printing it except to give the family more grief

Ed

You are projecting your own moral beliefs here. Who are you to say that the parents are at all embarrased by their daughter being a stripper?