Scott Petersen - Why should I care?

[disneysteve]

I am so tired of turning on the news each morning and seeing a 10-minute update on the Scott Petersen case. While I feel bad for the victim and her family, the truth is this is a crime that happened 3,000 miles away from me amongst people who were not famous or important for any national reason. While I don't particularly care about Kobe Bryant or Michael Jackson either, I understand why their cases constitute national news.

Unfortunately, there are murders all across the country every day. What made this case so special that it became a national phenomenon? And am I the only one who feels that it doesn't belong at the top of the headlines? Maybe I'm missing something but I just don't get it.

 

[Jimbo]

I'm with you all the way on this one. The cable news channels devote tons of time every night to it, and I can't for the life of me see why.

Well, I suppose the "why" is because people are watching. So then the question is "why are people watching?"

 

[dianeschlicht]

ITA! It's why I don't watch news anymore! These kind of things clog up the news and take attention away from the REAL issues like the war and how the US leaves such a negetive impression on the rest of the world. We need to get a grip and start caring as much about the bigger picture.

 

[SC Minnie]

I agree with you. The news programs report about this kind of stuff before they report about the war, election, or economy.

People go missing or are killed everyday in this country. How does the national news decide which ones to talk about?

 

[goin2disneyagain]

She went missing on Christmas Eve and she was eight months pregnant. I believe that had a lot to do with all the media attention. You may not want to hear about it but a lot of people (me included) do and that also makes it newsworthy.

 

[disneysteve]

Originally posted by goin2disneyagain
She went missing on Christmas Eve and she was eight months pregnant. I believe that had a lot to do with all the media attention. You may not want to hear about it but a lot of people (me included) do and that also makes it newsworthy.

Thank you for posting. Since you are the first to say you are interested, can you please explain why? Did you know anyone involved? How does this case impact your life? I see you are in GA so it wasn't a local case for your area.

Do you think this case is more important than hundreds of other murders that occur each day? If so, why? And do you think it is appropriate for so much air time to be devoted to this case over more important issues?

 

[hoosll]

Things it has meant to me -

1. How hard it is to prove a circumstantial case in this country

2. Did the police learn nothing from OJ

3. That there are people walking around who appear "normal" but are actually predators

4. Big money can buy a defense for anyone

5. Women can be suckers for a smooth line - if this case makes one woman look more closely at the person who "loves" her but is actually using her ...

6. If he cheated once, he WILL cheat again

7. Parents will stand by you no matter what - unconditional love

8. There is TOO much news coverage in this country when we take a case such as this tragic one and the case of Lori Hacking and saturate the airwaves

 

[goin2disneyagain]

Originally posted by disneysteve
Thank you for posting. Since you are the first to say you are interested, can you please explain why? Did you know anyone involved? How does this case impact your life? I see you are in GA so it wasn't a local case for your area.

Do you think this case is more important than hundreds of other murders that occur each day? If so, why? And do you think it is appropriate for so much air time to be devoted to this case over more important issues?

The reasons I stated previously are why I am curious about the case. No I do not know anyone involved. I agree that it does get a lot of airtime, probably too much. Most of what I watch on it comes from the talk type shows with lawyers and experts, not the nightly news. Shows like "On the Record" and "Larry King Live." I don't see the case taking away from my local news. I don't think the case is any more important than other cases but it isn't the only non-celebrity case that has ever received a lot of attention and I doubt it will be the last.

 

[Hillbeans]

If you're going to start to question why the media runs with certain stories and others, you will question yourself to death.

Why did the Media focus on the death of Pat Tillman instead of all the other hundreds of soldiers who've died in the war?

Why did the Elizabeth Smart case get so much attention while others dont??

Probably because of the fact that she was pregnant, it was Christmas and she was a very pretty girl (Laci). You don't hear about the other hundreds of abductions because unfortunately there is no news "hook" to a story. It's Journalism 101.

Personally, this case is very interesting to me....no, I don't know the people, however it's got all of the elements of a perfect crime since he supposedly left no evidence.

 

[dturner]

I am also very involved in following this case, have been since Day 1 when I heard on the TV that a 8 month pregnant woman disappeared on Christmas Eve. I think the timing of Laci' disappearance had a lot to do with the media coverage - Christmas Eve. At first my heart went out to the families because it was Christmas Eve. Then I started wondering if the husband had anything to do with it - the statistics show that most pregnant women who are murdered are murdered by their spouse/significant other.

I think most people are interested in this case because Scott Peterson SEEMED like the perfect husband - family said they had the perfect marriage but evidently everyone was wrong (even the families involved in the Hacking case said the husband could not of harmed his wife but they were wrong also). It still boggles my mind as to WHY? Why would someone want to harm an 8 month pregnant woman? Also, could a seemingly normal person actualy be a calculated murderer?

I follow the court testimony ever day, why? I want to see if justice will be served in this case. Do I think SP murdered his wife and unborn child? Yes, I do.



Justice for Laci and Conner

 

[UncleKyle]

I've been screaming my head off about this for months. Would anyone care if she wasn't an attractive white woman with a nice looking husband?

What if she was black, latino, or asian? Would anyone really care? And what if she wasn't from California? If she lived in the middle of Arkansas/Kentucky/Tennesse and lived in trailer we would have never heard about her.

 

[Chicago526]

Originally posted by dturner
Then I started wondering if the husband had anything to do with it - the statistics show that most pregnant women who are murdered are murdered by their spouse/significant other.

It's worse than that! I heard that the LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH for pregnant women in the U.S. is murder. Not comlications due to the pregnancy, but MURDER, almost always at the hands of the father of the child.

 

[goin2disneyagain]

Originally posted by Chicago526
It's worse than that! I heard that the LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH for pregnant women in the U.S. is murder. Not comlications due to the pregnancy, but MURDER, almost always at the hands of the father of the child.

I've heard this as well. Very scary!!

 

[DoeWDW]

I think this story belongs in a National Enquirer and not our nightly news. Sorry but if I'm watching the news, I want to see what's going on in the US and in other parts of the world - big picture stuff that affects many people. I don't want to see one family's dirty laundry dredged out into the open and speculated on every day for weeks on end.

I think this makes us as Americans look petty. We devote so much time to stuff like this instead of to issues that really matter.

 

[Doug123]

The general public LOVES a human interest story. The American public likes to see the details of individual lives, and how they make it through in tough times (whether they brought it on themselves or not). As they say, it's hard to look away from a car accident when you drive by. It plays to the voyeur in people.

The news covers it because they're in the business of making money. Unfortunately, that means catering to the masses. Which means, again unfortunately, that we see a lot of human interest junk and we're stuck with reality television shows.

You can see this demonstrated daily on the DIS as people discuss to great length the latest on the Peterson trail and whatever happened last night on Survivor or Big Brother 5.

There are quality news shows (though I think local news across the board is a joke), you just have to search for them. The Peterson trial is only slightly different from the thousands of murders that happen in this country every year.

 

[Hillbeans]

Originally posted by Chicago526
It's worse than that! I heard that the LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH for pregnant women in the U.S. is murder. Not comlications due to the pregnancy, but MURDER, almost always at the hands of the father of the child.

I've never heard that before, but now that you say it, that's probably true.

 

[cheyita]

First of all, I do think there is way too much coverage of this case in the news.

That said, I'm very interested in the case. I do not consider it more important than other murders. I do not have a personal interest in it. I hate to put it this way, but I find it like reading a good murder mystery novel. I've thought he is guilty from day one, and I keep watching for more information to prove that to be true.

And for both this case and Lori Hacking, they seem like such "normal" people to have such a tragic incident unravel. In that, I am comparing it to people who are involved in drugs or gangs. Still tragic, but more expected.

 

[disneysteve]

Originally posted by Hillbeans
Why did the Media focus on the death of Pat Tillman instead of all the other hundreds of soldiers who've died in the war

Because he was famous.

Why did the Elizabeth Smart case get so much attention while others dont??

Because the family was rich and it was a pretty bizarre story in a very exclusive neighborhood.

BTW, I think both of those stories were also blown way out of proportion by the media.

hoosll - I think you made several really interesting points.

 

[Sandy V.]

I agree with Doug123 - we are fascinated with human interest stories.

After being bombarded daily with the upcoming presidential election, terrorism threats, the Iraq conflict, the economy, global warming, etc., people look to the more day-to-day aspects of humanity to cope.

As for me personally, yes, I do find both the Scott Peterson and Mark Hacking murder cases interesting. Partly because I'm a lawyer and I look at it from that perspective, but mainly because it fascinates me to get a glimpse into someone else's mind and try and figure out what motivated them to do something so awful (by saying this, I'm not condoning violence against anyone).

(Edited to correct a misspelling.)

 

[Hillbeans]

Well said Sandy V. For many of us, Iraq could be on the moon for all we know. I know that sounds ignorant, but ask around. See if someone at your office can point out Iraq on a map.

I think people are fascinated when someone seemingly has a "perfect" life, and they go and kill their 8 month pregnant wife. If this were in a trailer park and the people were trash those who pointed that out before are probably right, that it wouldn't be newsworthy.