These are the results of queries on Google News, which searches 4,500 news sources worldwide, for the following people:
1,150 Pervez Musharraf
1,330 Kim Jong Il
1,980 Laci Peterson
2,000 John Ashcroft
2,210 Scott Peterson
2,600 John Kerry
4,230 Michael Jackson
4,650 Jacques Chirac
4,660 Dick Cheney
4,940 Vladimir Putin
6,130 Osama Bin Laden
10,500 Colin Powell
10,800 George W Bush
13,300 Donald Rumsfeld
60,900 Saddam Hussein
My question is why in the world should Laci and Scott Peterson attract more attention than the leaders of Pakistan and North Korea right now? What makes them so special? No question it was a gruesome, malicious crime, but horrible crimes happen every day. In a suburb adjacent to my university a dungeon was found where some sick bastard imprisoned and repeatedly raped at least four different women, one a 16-year-old girl he kept there for over six months. You know how many hits that story got, 37. Another story about the torture and murder of a bisexual man in California who had to be identified by his dental records got 32 hits.
Are we so desperate for constant drama in the news that we’ll flock to any story the press deems worthy of sensationalizing? The Petersons were rich and attractive, they had everything going for them and it all went horribly wrong… and she was pregnant. There is no doubt the TV-movies rights have already been sold. They are exploiting this woman’s death and her family’s grief to sell newspapers, and I think it’s completely fucking bizarre that everyone I know is entranced by it.
Honestly, I did a Google search on Laci Peterson simply because I had no idea who she was, yet every cable news channel was carrying breaking news that her body was found (without explaining what the big hullaballoo was over any other murder case).
I don’t think it’s necessarily just what people are interested in but what’s making the top stories in general tends to attract more attention.
Your premise is incorrect. You’re basing your conclusions on a Google search for the exact spelling of Pervez Musharraf and Kim Jong Il. There are numerous variations on these spellings, just like Unca Cecil explained in a column about the correct spelling of the Libyan leader’s name.
If you search only for “Musharraf Pakistan” and “Jong North Korea,” you get 100,000+ responses. Just “Kim Jong” gets you 196,000 responses.
As for Laci Peterson, it’s a real-life tragic murder mystery. By all accounts, they had a happy marriage. No fights, no arguments, just another good-looking couple.
Then she disappears, and the story comes out because there’s tons of people searching for her. And along the way, more information comes out that all is not what it seems. Then there’s the husband, who has no alibi, who it turns out was carrying on an affair while his wife was pregnant, who sold his wife’s SUV shortly after she disappeared, and finally was caught in San Diego (where his parents live), with a blonde-dye job and new facial hair.
In short, it’s a great news story. Why wouldn’t there be people interested in it?
All the names I entered had the full and correct spellings to avoid confounding variables in this informal inquiry. Also I tried just “Kim Jong” and got 1,500 results not 200,000.
As for Laci, sure it’s an interesting story, but that doesn’t mean it deserves 24/7 coverage on CNN. The media found a piece of real life soap opera and they are milking it for everything its worth. I think it borders on unethical journalism.
I think that the interest in the Laci Peterson case is partially justified now that her body has washed up on the California coast. What i really couldn’t understand was all the attention given to a missing persons case over the past four months. How many people go missing every month and barely make 15 seconds on the local news, let alone become a major national story?
2 out of three ain’t bad. And i’ll buy your arguement once a missing black woman gains so much media exposure. Laci Peterson can go get bent, i am sick of hearing about her. Ladies, stop marrying guys who will kill you. Hopefully Scott Peterson will soon be dead, and then maybe i’ll stop hearing about this stupid case and we can get back to real news.
I guess this throws a monkey-wrench into the theory that brunettes are an oppressed group. Don’t know who made that particular theory up, but they’re sure eating crow today.
I think the eight-months-pregnancy thing was a big draw. The thought of her being kidnapped and in labour, or suffering from some sort of depressive illness and having wandered off, perhaps unable to cope with a newborn, were (for me anyway) what struck extra chords.
ARRRGHH!!! One of those links had freaky creepy music! The Mothman film scared me SHITLESS and sitting here alone, in the dead of night, at my computer - was the last thing I needed!!!
But thank you anyway, because the information - once I muted my laptop - is very interesting.