A tragedy occurred last Christmas Eve when Laci Peterson, who
was eight months pregnant, mysteriously disappeared from her
Modesto, California home.
On April 14 tragedy struck again when her body, along with the
body of her unborn son Connor, was discovered washed up on the San
Francisco Bay shore. Peterson’s story is one of human
tragedy, but a different and almost equally sickening form of
tragedy occurred the moment the national news media picked up the
story and turned it into a sensational reality soap opera.
Laci and her suspect-husband Scott Peterson’s faces have
graced the covers of countless magazines, and each night details of
their continuing drama are recounted and analyzed on CNN, FOX and
MSNBC ad nauseam.
The fact that the media would utilize this heinous crime and
exploit a family’s grief to sell sleazy tabloid papers, slick
magazines and endless “news” talk shows featuring
celebrity commentators raises serious questions about the depths to
which some media outlets will descend to make a buck.
But to be fair to the media, this case does appear to have a
plot line and character development that would rival the best
prime-time drama. The stars are a beautiful young woman, pregnant
with her first child, and her handsome, but suspicious and
adulterous husband. There is a rich supporting cast, from feuding
extended families, to a tight-lipped police chief, to countless
tearful mourners who line up at Laci Peterson’s home every
day to bring flowers and keep her memory alive.
But there is a stark contrast between this case and an excellent
drama, since the men and women involved are real people. A woman,
who could easily have been your sister or daughter, has been
murdered. A man, who could have been your high school football
buddy, is on trial for murder and will face the death penalty if
convicted. And an ordinary family is having its world turned
upside-down.
That is why the sensational coverage that has occurred is highly
inappropriate. The tabloids have continued their regular job of
providing all the news that’s not fit or even appropriate to
print. For example, the National Enquirer plays to the crowd just
itching for sex and violence, splashing headlines like “The
affair that led to Laci’s murder” and “Secret
witness saw Scott with Laci’s body” across their pages,
coupling them with blurred pictures of coroners carrying a body
bag.
Star Magazine targeted its coverage to a more sensitive group of
gossip mongers, featuring stories like “Laci Peterson’s
wedding,” promising exclusive pictures of the events. The
opening paragraph begins, “Laci Peterson’s married life
began with a fairy tale wedding and ended with her cheating husband
Scott’s arrest for her brutal murder and that of their unborn
son, Connor.”
But while this type of coverage is hardly acceptable or
journalistically responsible, it’s to be expected from shady
tabloids like Star and the National Enquirer.
What is striking is the type of coverage that much more
reputable sources of news have devoted to this story. Newsweek has
fallen in line with articles like “The Tale of the Peterson
Tapes,” which presents details of Scott Peterson’s
affair, speculates on the methods used to dispose of Laci’s
body, and gossips about Scott’s potential for romance behind
bars, passing it all off as legitimate news.
All major U.S. newspapers including The New York Times, the L.A.
Times and The Boston Globe, have devoted numerous articles to Laci
Peterson coverage. Geraldo Rivera flew back from reporting the war
in Iraq to cover Scott Peterson’s arrest on his weekend news
show on Fox News.
The mainstream national media is obsessed by this tragedy. Why?
Because it sells papers, lines up views and causes magazines to fly
off the stands. This transformation of news into macabre
entertainment is shameful at best.
I’m from Modesto, California. I grew up a half mile from
the Petersons’ home and walked past it every day on my way to
junior high track practices. I attended Thomas Downey High School
““ the school Laci Peterson graduated from a few years before
I got there. Her memorial service was held in the church I often
attend. To me and to countless others this story is much more than
an entertaining drama sandwiched between “Friends” and
“ER.”
A tragedy occurred with the death of Laci Peterson and her son
Connor, and all we can do is mourn for her and her family.
Let’s just hope that the media have the dignity to end the
tragedy of exploitation that they perpetrate with every
sensationalized headline they write and story they publish. Only
then will Peterson and Connor and all those who have been wounded
by what has happened rest in peace.