"Wichita Massacre" murder trial "Ping List"
Posted on 11/04/2002 2:22:04 PM PST by an amused spectator
When Matthew Shepard, a young gay man, died in October 1998 after being beaten and tied to a fence near Laramie, Wyoming, the nation's mainstream press erupted in rage.
Thousands of newspaper and magazine articles and countless minutes of television time were devoted to this horrific case. The angst over where this nation's soul lay was palpable. The name of Matthew Shepard is a household word to this day.
In December 2000, I read with shock about a mass-murder committed in Wichita, Kansas. The circumstances of the case were vile and mind-numbing, and I was outraged. As time went on, I became aware that the national news media was pointedly ignoring the story. As a member of Free Republic, I was used to the forum news being days or weeks ahead of the print/television media, but I felt confident that eventually, the mainstream would HAVE to report on the story.
Today, the perpetrators of the torture/rape/mass murders in Wichita on that December night were convicted of 100+ crimes. But after nearly two years, the mainstream media has still not reported on the story. FOXNews and The Washington Times have covered the story, of course, but I have checked the national websites of The New York Times, The Washington Post, CBS News and MSNBC repeatedly over the last several weeks for a mention of the name of one of the perpetrators, Reginald Carr, which is very distinctive and excellent for news query search purposes.
I haven't found a word. I also did searches on other unique words related to the case, and came up with nothing.
Companies and people pay millions of dollars a year to advertise their products in print and television media. They do this for a reason: consumers remember when they see a product advertised.
I remember Matthew Shepard 4 years after he was murdered, and I'm sure hundreds of thousands of other average Americans do too.
I remember Jason Befort, Aaron Sander, Brad Heyka, Heather Muller and their killers, Reginald and Jonathan Carr, and I'm sure only a handful of other average Americans know about the crimes that were committed two years ago. Why the disparity in coverage? Both crimes were very bloody. The Wichita murders were even more sensational than the Shepard beating or the murder of James Byrd Jr. I've heard that trite line about the media: "If it bleeds, it leads!"
Strangely, the four young people bled their lives out in a frozen Kansas field, and it didn't even make the soup coupon section of The New York Times
I regretfully conclude that the reason most Americans know about Matthew Shepard is because his death was used as a free political commercial by the Left, to advertise their views about this country and their political enemies under the guise of "breaking news".
As such, we should now examine all mainstream newscasts or news stories with this question in mind:
You've done a fine job on the Wichita story. Thanks for all your hard work.
And you've said them very eloquently. Thanks.
"Wichita Massacre" murder trial "Ping List"
-archy-/-
You outrage is fully justified. But your prediction is overly optimistic. We need to go after the media. But there are real mountains--public relations mountains--to climb, before we will ever have a prayer of gaining the upper hand. And the battle will not end in any of our lifetimes.
The leftward drift in academics, journalism, theology and politics, reflects some complex causes. But it is real, and exposing it will offer a slight antidote to its poison, but will not in and of itself reverse the trend.
That said, your post has value. You make the essential point, you seek. Now that you have identified a part of the problem, I hope that your commitment to fighting it will not wane.
William Flax Return Of The Gods Web Site
Has nothing to do with the left or the right. Gay people are killed weekly in America but they do not always make HUGE headlines. It is SADLY the flavor of the day when it ocmes to the media. It is the EXACT same way with kidnappings...murders...rapists...shark attacks...Condit...whatever the flavor of the day is. It is sad...but true. It has nothing to do with the Left or the Right. It has everything to do with where the cameras happen to be...and who happens to be calling the shots on the day in question. News or not...
I've been a thorn in the media's side here on FR for five years.
My point is that we can now identify "news" to our friends, family and cultural opponents with an immediate and dismissive "political commercial" label. If they dissent, ask them who Matthew Shepard, Reginald Carr and Heather Muller are. ;-)
You are right on with this post, but you are wrong about the Left.
The Left in America has populated the newsrooms with "political commissars" - this is a documented fact.
The beating of Matthew Shepard and the killing of James Byrd were worth millions of dollars in free advertising to our left-wing friends.
Great editorial. Well written and extremely insightful.
Your analogy of a political commercial is dead on. There is nothing sincere or genuine in HC laws or the way they are reported. They are just the left taking events that confirm their world view and zealously broadcasting them (whites victimizing blacks, straights victimizing gays). While then taking things that don't confirm their world view and hiding them (like this case).
Under any intelligent evaluation Liberalism is revealed as a failed system Therefore it cannot exist without mind control (and the "commercials" needed to excercise that control). And its biggest accomplice in that department is the mainstream media.
As to the solution--It would be a nice if we could snap our fingers and balance the media. But there is no real way to do that. Instead, hopefully alternative sources like Foxnews, talk radio, and the Washington Timnes will continue to grow and flourish.
There they go again. Anyone who believes that hate crime laws should apply equally to all is a "white supremacist"
As "an amused spectator" might say this little snippet was just another free political commercial for the left
You must however, include the name JESSE DIRKHISING in any article that mentions matthew shepard. We must always show that SADs murder and torture people (children) too.
God Save America (Please)
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