Is it just me or has the Laci Peterson coverage gotten out of
hand?
Is it just me or has the Laci Peterson coverage gotten out of hand? The so-called hot-shot expert lawyers are debating the case in the media based mostly on speculation and not the facts. As a news reporter, I prefer to write a story based on facts and not what might have been.
There are hundreds of other horrific homicide cases out there that have received little or no media attention, let alone such an extensive follow-up. The Peterson case is another example of a media circus gone down the tubes.
This gruesome case is being used as a political tool to change the law that would ensure the states’ right to request the death penalty when the death of a mother results in the demise of her unborn child. But what about the living?
Remember the little Pennsylvania boy who was found starved and beaten to death in a basement? How horrific for this little boy’s surviving siblings who were also found in that basement. Where was the public outcry for this injustice? There was very little follow-up.
The media can change public opinion, which is why I feel my personal and political views should be kept out of the news stories I write. You’d better believe the TV media will entice the public to watch this living soap opera each time Scott Peterson goes to court.
Quite frankly, there isn’t anything about the Peterson case that interests me or affects my lifestyle. It was sad and tragic; hopefully they have the person who did it, end of story and time to move on.
Personally, I would rather have more coverage on what is going on with our troops in Iraq because that does affect me and more than 150,000 other families with sons and daughters on the front line. You do realize that our troops are still engaging in combat missions? Yes, the major battles may have been won, but the war is not over. Most of the coverage on the war in Iraq is being squelched or simply ignored by the media.
Where are these embedded reporters now? Probably back in the United States hoping to make a book deal, with movies rights attached. Oh, hey, that’s probably the same reason why the hot-shot lawyers are working the Peterson case. The story has all the drama, a cast of characters with the scenes being written with each press conference and court appearance. Hollywood is all over this and you know it.
Here’s the latest news flash coming in from Linda’s Last Chance Ranch: Tuesday morning the goat got out and the cat had kittens – four of them, a black, a white and two grays.
Like I said, I want the kind of news that makes an impact on my life like health and safety issues. Where are my tax dollars going? Where is my son?
So each time a TV announcer begins with, “In the Laci Peterson case,” I exercise my right for privacy, peace and quiet – by shutting the damned thing off.
