British Expatriate Network

Here I quote directly from the associated press. The words I have put in bold are those which I think would be better substituted for a more accurate representation of the facts according to common convention and understanding of the law.

Don't you think it should read:

It is not a direct quote either from the accused killer or the police officer, so we don't know that he described her as a beauty queen so what is the reasoning behind continually describing her as such?

The way this paragraph was worded suggests something that both people participated in (not one doing something to the other) and that this child was an adult. It makes me mad to see it written like this!

Fair point.

Sometimes, I think the writers are just very sloppy. I suppose they are expected to churn out so much, that they don't always think before submitting articles.

A decent editor should have picked it up too though.

Its bad reporting bad editing and bad taste .


But there are very few real profeesional in the press when it comes to the crunch .

Have you seen them when the idiot screen isnt in frond of them and they are using ther own words ?

Most of them hesitate get the words mixed up and generally look like a child reading /talking in the 5th grade

I agree with you kentgirl. The press can't help sensationalizing something as hideous as the rape and murder of a child.
Scum.

Don Henley said it well

I make my living off the evening news
Just give me something-something I can use
People love it when you lose,
They love dirty laundry

Well, I coulda been an actor, but I wound up here
I just have to look good, I dont have to be clear
Come and whisper in my ear
Give us dirty laundry

Kick em when theyre up
Kick em when theyre down
Kick em when theyre up
Kick em all around

We got the bubble-headed-bleach-blonde who
Comes on at five
She can tell you bout the plane crash with a gleam
In her eye
Its interesting when people die-
Give us dirty laundry

Can we film the operation?
Is the head dead yet?
You know, the boys in the newsroom got a
Running bet
Get the widow on the set!
We need dirty laundry

You dont really need to find out whats going on
You dont really want to know just how far its gone
Just leave well enough alone
Eat your dirty laundry

Kick em when theyre up
Kick em when theyre down
Kick em when theyre stiff
Kick em all around

Dirty little secrets
Dirty little lies
We got our dirty little fingers in everybodys pie
We love to cut you down to size
We love dirty laundry

We can do the innuendo
We can dance and sing
When its said and done we havent told you a thing
We all know that crap is king
Give us dirty laundry!

No doubt there are aspects of the journalism trade and the role of the media in modern society that are seriously out of balance, but I also wonder about the responsibility of the individual - the millions of people like you and I who essentially bankroll the system by buying what they sell.

I clicked on this thread, didn't I? Why did I do that - doesn't it trivialise and dehumanize the brutal murder of an innocent child by me picking over the case, analyzing it and reading the bits of news and commentary that are churned out, even on your friendly, average bloke sort of board such as this?

Enquiring minds want to know. (For those of you who haven't lived in the U.S., "Enquiring minds want to know" is the advertising slogan of The National Enquirer, and absolutely and unabashadely tasteless rag of a publication that caters to the base instincts, gullability, and ignorance of its readers. Or as they would have it, their readers' "enquiring minds").

I have to admit, if I weren't ashamed to be seen buying or reading a National Enquirer, I would probably be hooked on it. I'm one of those "closet gossips" who are morbidly facinated by disaster, mayhem, and scandal, but are too snobby to act on it. Or perhaps too principled to descend into it? (Yes, I'll go with that - I'm principled, not snobby.)

But yeah, back to the point - the media is oozing with sleaze, and we love to hate it. But what do we do about it? Stop reading and watching the news, stop commenting on what we read and see? How do we raise the bar? Interested to hear your opinions.

Agreed KG.
And frankly rather disturbing.

What i dont get in the so called standards the press and the govt operate under .
just turned on fox news and they were having a discusion of the ramsey case and the suspect who has just been arrested .

before i coiuld even decide if iwanted to hear all the details l this guy ( police spokesmsn ) i think he was was t ranting on about the child porn that was found in this guys possesion . and i heard things like girls under 10 years old stripped naked tied up and hang from the ceiling , bound in leather etc etc , no thought to how those words might discust many folks .

An the other hand the decency police jump all over abc fine them thousands of bucks for acidentally showing a climpse of breast at a football match and go crazy when howard stern says the f.bomb or talks about lesbians .


Dont know what sort of standard you follow but fox and the other public channels are open to the ears of anybody of any age or sex who happens to listen to the local news .howard has a audience who CHOOSE to listen and pay for the privilege


what a hypocritical world we live in

Frankly, the way the news (and non-news) is presented these days I would prefer to opt out of watching, just for all those reasons mentioned above. So-called magazine shows are even worse. Is it perhaps that Americans seem to like that over-the-fence gossipy style so favored by local news anchors that encourages them to do it more and more?

I won't read any more than the front cover headlines of any of those supermarket tabloids, no matter what the temptation - and yes there IS a slight temptation because I am a normal curious human being, intereted in what makes people tick and fascinated to find how different or similar others are from me.

I do think, however, that journalists (and all who call themselves such) have a responsibility to stick to the facts, report without bias and definitely without unnecessary embellishment, and editors are supposed to make sure they do it!

There was something on a local pop radio station this monrnng about a tv reporter covering a film premiere talking to some minor celebrities and breaking the news to them on camera that one of their friends/colleagues had "literally just passed away" and "getting a reaction'. Is there no line they will not cross?

I've noticed he's changed his story a couple of times and that he said he drugged the child, no drugs were found at autopsy, but then they missed blood samples. You are quite right KG, if this one slips by then it will be a norm to allow a child molester to be presented as a simple man who couldn't control his sexual urges when faced with a , six year old, or however old she was.

Start looking for chador or burka patterns, the men can't handle seeing a woman, or a girl child.
Hell, in parts of Iraq they still diaper goats as their bare rears can inflame a sheperd at certain times of the year.
( and they wonder why we call them animals, some men, that is. )

I agree with the general sentiment here, but I think they were just quoting him.

S ee thats the problem this very thread is about .
WHO knows what he really said the police now say he ..didnt say anything about meeting her from school and using drugs ... yeterday it was a hoax today he could be quilty . again the perants of the ramsey girl where convicted in the press cus they * took the advice of a attorney didnt speak to anyone and dared to redecorate there home and sell it .
every story is the same .

examples

the ongoing saga that is the missing teen called *natalie Holloway * im tired of seing her obnoxiuos mother interviewed by the press and stating the aruba boys are guilty * cus they lied *which of us as kids/youths in a crisis hav,nt lied ??? stuff was credited to the dutch guy and the other two youths that they didnt say ,and didnt do .

they where convicted without any evidence by the press .

The altanta bombing case and Richard Jewel another poor sap who was convicted by the press just because he looked *odd* and had the audacity to live with his mother and keep playboy magazines under his bed .

same again about the girl (cant remeber her name ) who vanished just before her wedding and the future husband was convicted by the press of her murder by the press simply cus he *wouldnt take a lie detector test *

funny how all of these are white folks and all of them were only doing what they were legally entitled to do expecially to refuse a lie detctor test . ( i would do the same )

So we have white folls convicted in the press cus they acted legally, looked odd , where rich , lied ,knew there rights and used them .

the same bigots who suffer this hurt on innocent folks complain loudly when somebody of colour is convicted cus he./she had there rights abused .



the press a lot of chalatans

Well you can see the point here. He should have been arrested for being such a saddo.

I'm a bit nervous now, Petaluma is north bay and someone has managed to rattle the cage of Polly Glass's father. They've even gone thru the cell and communication file of the guy who killed Polly Glass as this weirdo said he was in contact with him.
Polly Glass's father is like a tornado. He is so angry still, there seems to be little control, I always expect him to pull a gun, he's like a loose cannon. I don't profess to understand his pain, but I get nervous watching a man who hasn't moved forward in his loss. I spend time praying to gods that he doesn't do anything stupid. It's bad for my blood pressure. What's worse is him indoors and me looked at the guy who's confessed and both immediately said, where did we meet him? His face is so familiar. Like a barman or someone you see evry other day and kind of know but don't really, they're pleasant so you let it go.
Bah humbug, terrorists, sex offenders, mother rapers, father rapers, litterers, if this continues I might find the mountains attractive.

Thanks for that, Annie! I have not heard Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's Restaurant" in ... oh, ages. Donkey's years, as my dear MIL would say! Happy memories...

Don't know much about the reporting of the case, but have noticed that the family often refer to her as a beauty queen/princess etc. Not her fault, but perhaps if they had objected long ago, it wouldn't have become such a standard media phrase.

Totally agree with you though, KG.