Canadian Press gets it wrong by choosing Luka Rocco Magnotta as newsmaker of the year
It doesn't surprise me that the Canadian Press would choose Luka Rocco Magnotta as Canada's 2012 Newsmaker of the Year.
The result, which came from polling newsrooms across the country, has been greeted with disgust by politicians, including interim Liberal leader Bob Rae. He tweeted that it was "truly disgusting" and a "new low" for Canadian Press.
The selection of Magnotta reflects the media's immoderate preoccupation with death.
I won't say that news directors across the country are necrophiliacs, because that would be unfair. However, I do believe there is far too much emphasis placed on death in daily news coverage, whether it's traffic accidents, murders, or suicides.
This comes at the expense of important public issues—such as climate change and the growing gap between rich and poor—which are often more intellectually challenging to cover.
Most people who don't work in newsrooms probably think soccer star Christine Sinclair, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair, or NHL commissioner Gary Bettman were more deserving of the 2012 Newsmaker of the Year designation than a man accused of putting human body parts in the mail.
By voting for the malignantly narcissistic Magnotta—who is charged with murdering and dismembering a Chinese student in Montreal—newsrooms have sent a message to every nutbar that they, too, can become famous by perpetrating some disgusting act.
Who's next for Newsmaker of the Year? Robert William Pickton? Paul Bernardo? Clifford Olsen? It's no wonder the public is losing faith in the media.
Comments
7 Comments
Paul.
Dec 23, 2012 at 10:13pm
Agreed.
Mark Fornataro
Dec 23, 2012 at 10:51pm
sounds like these so-called journalists really believe in living up to the dumb news expression 'if it bleeds, it leads.'
DavidH
Dec 24, 2012 at 3:36pm
A pathetically sad, naive and silly comment from Charlie Smith. Obviously, he hasn't even bothered to read the full release from Canadian Press - which fully discusses the issues associated with selecting Magnotta as a "newsmaker", in an intelligent way.
Unfortunately, Smith doesn't seem to understand that a "newsmaker" is not a "hero". Nor does he understand that the names he throws around were either considered or rejected in years past.
Grow up, for gawd's sake, or admit that the GS is a place for children.
Charlie Smith
Dec 24, 2012 at 5:41pm
DavidH
I think anyone who holds up Luka Rocco Magnotta as newsmaker of the year (and I didn't say hero) is only encouraging psychotic, narcissistic, murderous copycats.
Sometimes, the media needs to exercise some restraint for the good of society. This was true in the coverage of the Amanda Todd story. Editors who approved of phone-hacking in the U.K. should have shown more restraint. And it's also true in putting Magnotta up in lights again as the newsmaker of the year. It's just irresponsible and potentially dangerous.
I saw an interview recently on CBC with an expert who interviewed a bunch of killers. Many of them think a great deal about how they'll be portrayed in the media and about how others were portrayed. He specifically mentioned Mark David Chapman, Jeffrey Dahmer, and John Hinckley Jr.
I believe the sensationalism around a Ted Bundy or Paul Bernardo case has the potential to inspire other freaks to emulate them or even exceed their depravity.
This is why I wish the media would cool their jets somewhat.
Charlie Smith
Ivan Ilyich
Dec 25, 2012 at 10:05am
Canada has spent $40,000,000,000 and some hundred a fifty Canadians have died in a war in Afghanistan but the "Canadian Press" have yet to explain the background reasons behind this catastrophic event in our history.
The events of 9/11 have never been covered except in the most superficial and totally incredulous way possible.
These events, if properly covered might have earned the the Canadian press some credibility but they would rather cover tacky and grisly murder stories and serve Canadians in the some manner that Pravda did in the former Soviet Union.
Hey present and future seniors it's time to wake up and smell the coffee because that $40 billion will be coming out of your measly future pensions.
This is another story yet to be cover by the CP.
p lg
Dec 29, 2012 at 3:36pm
Why are we always looking for the #1 of anything when we know it is mostly a subjective enterprise and perhaps self serving in the case of MSW?
Didn't they mean what story helped to sell the most papers?
blueheron
Dec 31, 2012 at 8:55pm
Charlie, you're exactly right; I agree with Bob Rae for a change.