There are a lot of people who like crack, but handing it to addicts on a silver platter has been deemed harmful to the common good. There is profit in peddling crack, but dealing the dope has been deemed illegal.
There is profit to be made in peddling stories about a beautiful young woman caught up in a sex game gone bad that ended in murder. But playing the latest twist in the sordid Amanda Knox saga among the top stories in the world is the journalistic equivalent to waving a packed crack pipe in front of a roomful of strung out junkies.
The U.S. and European media is going gaga over the Knox story yet again, drawn as irresistibly to the college student hottie's plight as an addict is drawn to his sugar daddy. The latest development -- the reversal of Knox's murder acquittal in Italy -- has generated more than 550 news stories over the past 24 hours.
It's a classic case of shameless pandering to the most base desires of media consumers. Given the hallowed principle of double jeopardy in the U.S. legal system, it is highly unlikely that American officials would allow Knox to be extradited to face a second trial for the 2007 murder of her British college student roomate in Perugia, Italy, Meredith Kercher. And Knox and her attorneys have made it clear that she will not return to Italy willingly to participate in a new trial.
So, other than the opportunity to cash in on Knox yet again, there's little justification to make the acquittal reversal a top story. Based on a Google news search, here are other stories of the day that deserved more attention but fell far short of the Knox case reporting:
- The U.S. gun control debate, including reports of school districts arming administrators in response to the Newtown, Conn., elementary school massacre: 97 stories.
- This week's meeting of leaders from the world's fastest emerging economics, the so-called BRICS nations Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa: 499 stories.
- North Korea's issuing of a new round of threats against U.S. military bases: 358 stories.
- Studies showing that fewer hours of doctor training in the United States is leading to more medical
errors: 22 stories.
Murder cases are inherently interesting, and even this nearly meaningless twist in the Knox case deserves a measure of media coverage. But is it really more important than the 10,000 Americans on average who are killed in gun violence every year? Is it more important than fundamental changes in the global economy? Is it more important than the potential of North Korea sparking a nuclear war that would claim the lives of millions? Is it more important than an increase in the number of patients suffering death and disability in U.S. hospitals?
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