By Alexandra Marks
The Christian Science Monitor
Published: 8/21/2006
Excerpt:
"SOLVED!'' read the Daily News headline. "BREAKING NEWS" flashed the MSNBC graphic: "JonBenet Ramsey Case Solved?"
Almost a decade after a flood of media speculation
about the unsolved murder of the child beauty queen essentially
convicted her parents in the court of public opinion, critics say they
were at it again last week.
This time the new suspect was John Mark Karr, an
Alabama man arrested in Thailand on child pornography charges, who had
allegedly confessed to the 1996 killing.
But media critics note that within a day or so of the
initial rush to judgment, a more skeptical tone took hold. News
organizations that 24 hours before had only footnoted inconsistencies
in Mr. Karr's account suddenly were scrutinizing them. ...... "It clearly is a lead story," says Bob Steele, senior ethics faculty
member at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla. "But it still
requires us to be sure that the words we use in a headline, that the
language we use to describe what's taking place, are measured and
thoughtful.
More of this article...
Search Google News for more quotes by Bob Steele...
