# Why is everyone so interested in Laci Peterson?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-interested-in-laci-peterson/169825
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [April 20, 2003, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-interested-in-laci-peterson/169825 "2003-04-20T08:14:52Z")
**Posts on this page:** 18
**Page:** 6
### Author:  [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2003, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-interested-in-laci-peterson/169825/101 "2003-04-23T03:13:05Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by NurseCarmen \*
> \*\*Because she has nice legs and a good head on her shoulders.
> Well, at least she _did_.
> Is it too soon to be making disgusting jokes? \*\*
It’s _never_ too soon for that!
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### Author:  [@lezlers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lezlers)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2003, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-interested-in-laci-peterson/169825/102 "2003-04-23T04:04:42Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by you with the face \*
> \*\*Regardless of the mechanism behind the media’s fascination with the white, rich, and pretty, I’m wondering what effect that phenomenon leaves on our collective psyche. Subconsciously, do we start viewing the murder of white folks as more gasp-worthy than we view the murder of non-whites who live in less prestigious neighborhoods? Does excessive media coverage of the Elizabeths, Jon Benets, and Lacis of the world send the tacit message that these people are more important than the Temekas, Sun Yins, and Joses that also go missing and get murdered? Are we becoming hypersensitized to foul play done by the hands of one group while becoming desensitized to the same actions done by another?
>
> I’m not here to argue about _why_ the phenomenon exists, but personally I think you’d be a fool to dismiss the importance of race and class. The media will report what it thinks its audience wants to see, and I find the idea of the Smarts having to beg for airtime hard to swallow. Jon Benet’s parents probably didn’t have to woo the media very hard, either. Something tells me that one press conference was really all it took to get the media to latch on to their stories and run with it full steam ahead. Would the media latch on to the same stories if the players were not as rich and not as WASPy? Doubtful. \*\*
**EXACTLY**
You said it a lot more eloquently and succinctly than I have. Excellent post, thank you. ;j
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### Author:  [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2003, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-interested-in-laci-peterson/169825/103 "2003-04-23T06:44:56Z")
Again: The Petersons don’t appear to have been rich. Rich folk usually don’t get lawyers from the Public Defender’s Office.
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### Author:  [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2003, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-interested-in-laci-peterson/169825/104 "2003-04-23T07:57:17Z")
**Monty** :
Point A: I believe that Scott Peterson’s financial plight (poor enough to get a public defender) is a recent phen. They were a double income, no kids (yet) couple, living in a house (vs. apt), etc. Once she was gone, her income was as well, plus the cops confiscated his truck and boat. (yes, he had just purchased a boat).
I believe he’s since lost his job and had moved back in w/his parents.
Plus, it may indeed be that **her** parents are wealthy. So folks commenting on ‘well to do white folk’ does not necessarily have anything to do w/Scott Peterson’s currently being poor enough to get a public defender.
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### Author:  [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2003, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-interested-in-laci-peterson/169825/105 "2003-04-23T10:11:07Z")
Yep, it’ll be nice when this mess is all behind us and the big news outlets return to serious reporting devoid of calculated programming designed to appeal to our somewhat prurient interests and bent on generating increased ratings.
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### Author:  [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2003, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-interested-in-laci-peterson/169825/106 "2003-04-23T11:26:43Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by wring \*
> \*\*
>
> Point A: I believe that Scott Peterson’s financial plight (poor enough to get a public defender) is a recent phen. They were a double income, no kids (yet) couple, living in a house (vs. apt), etc. Once she was gone, her income was as well, plus the cops confiscated his truck and boat. (yes, he had just purchased a boat). . \*\*
Just because you buy something doesn’t mean you can actually _pay_ for it. Desperate financial situations have been motive for murder.
I see your point though. They did seem to be living very well.
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### Author:  [@lezlers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lezlers)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2003, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-interested-in-laci-peterson/169825/107 "2003-04-23T14:56:27Z")
Yes, **Monty,**
You seem to be splitting hairs. I see you live in Davis. I live in Napa. I think we can both agree that living in California aint cheap. Even the Central Valley. To own a house (as young as the Petersons were/are) you’ve got to have some dough. I doubt they were living paycheck to paycheck. The fact that they had an SUV, truck and _boat_\* as well makes me doubt that they weree/are poverty stricken. I too think that the whole public defender thing is nothing but a strategic move.
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### Author:  [@lezlers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lezlers)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2003, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-interested-in-laci-peterson/169825/108 "2003-04-23T15:02:52Z")
**Monty**
I just remembered that you made a comment awhile back on this thread about the fact that Laci was a _brunette_ and not a _blonde_ alluding to the fact that there couldn’t possibly be media bias because of that fact.
Then you go on to say that the Petersons weren’t rich because Scott Peterson _chose_ to use a Public Defender. Regardless of the fact that he owns a house, truck, SUV and _boat_. So therefore, again, there couldn’t possibly be any media bias.
Why are you so hell-bent on denying any media bias for the Petersons on the grounds of race/class? No one is accusing _you_ of bias, they’re/we’re accusing the _media_. I don’t understand where the desperation to defend the media is coming from? Are you a reporter or something??
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### Author:  [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2003, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-interested-in-laci-peterson/169825/109 "2003-04-23T15:59:58Z")
Oh, that’s a load of crap and you really ought to know it, lezlers. I did not say there was no media bias in the case. For those who can be bothered to actually read what I actually road (as opposed to what they want to dream that I wrote), I was saying that the particular media bias of “blonde-haired, blue-eyed, rich white female missing” doesn’t apply. Got that or do I need to put it in words of one syllable?
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### Author:  [@Margo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Margo)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2003, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-interested-in-laci-peterson/169825/110 "2003-04-23T16:06:15Z")
Look what was on the news today:
[http://www.wral.com/news/2152460/detail.html](http://www.wral.com/news/2152460/detail.html)
I live in the neighboring state and this is the first I have heard of this case, has anyone else heard of April Renee Greer? I have not heard one breath. I watch the news most evenings, but certainly never saw anything on CNN or any of the bigger news channels like it. She was 8.5 months pregnant and only 20 years old, it doesn’t mention whether the baby’s body was found. It is curious why Laci Peterson’s case saturated the news and this case didn’t. I had said I thought Laci’s case generated so much interest was because she was pregnant, I was wrong.
Margo
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### Author:  [@regurgit8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/regurgit8)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2003, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-interested-in-laci-peterson/169825/111 "2003-04-23T16:53:28Z")
\*\*
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by lezlers \*
> To own a house (as young as the Petersons were/are) you’ve got to have some dough. I doubt they were living paycheck to paycheck. The fact that they had an SUV, truck and… boat… as well makes me doubt that they weree/are poverty stricken.
\*\*
But were they _happy_?
(I think we all know the answer.)
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### Author:  [@lezlers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lezlers)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2003, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-interested-in-laci-peterson/169825/112 "2003-04-23T17:37:18Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by regurgit8 \*
>
> * * *
>
> But were they _happy_?
> (I think we all know the answer.) \*\*
Huh? That wasn’t the point of my post, **regurgit8**. My post was in response to **Monty** claiming they were in the poor house. Try to keep up.
**Monty**
No one is claiming there’s only a _blonde hair blue eyed_ bias. People are saying that there is a _white_ bias. That’s why I thought your brunette comment was a moot point. I’m white and I have brown hair. Doesn’t make me any less white. Your comment was a bit of a stretch.
And I stand by my position that the Petersons were far from poor. I never once said the media was biased towards
_rich_ people. I said they are biased by _race/class_ and I stand by that as well. You don’t have to be _rich_ to be middle to upper class. You just have to be able to live comforatably. And the Peterson’s, from the look of it, did just that.
You also claim that you never said there wasn’t a media bias. Well, you didn’t outright. But everytime anyone mentioned it, they only thing you responded with was how Laci had _brown_ hair and how Scott Peterson is using a _public_ defender. I could only infer from those posts that you feel the Petersons somehow didn’t fit the “profile” of race/class and therefore, the insane media attention they recieved wasn’t at all biased.
And there’s really no need to insult my intelligence. I actually thought you had a little more maturity than that.
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### Author:  [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2003, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-interested-in-laci-peterson/169825/113 "2003-04-23T17:47:59Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by regurgit8 \*
>
> * * *
>
> But were they _happy_?
> (I think we all know the answer.) \*\*
What the fuck does that have to do with anything?
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### Author:  [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2003, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-interested-in-laci-peterson/169825/114 "2003-04-23T18:15:13Z")
And I thought you actually had some sense, lezlers. You’ve proven me wrong. Don’t freaking gripe at me about stuff you admit you pretended I said.
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### Author:  [@lezlers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lezlers)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2003, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-interested-in-laci-peterson/169825/115 "2003-04-23T20:31:56Z")
When the hell did I “admit I pretended” you said anything?? I said I _inferred_ something from your posts. Inferring something is quite different from “pretending” you said something. People infer things all the time. The fact that people aren’t natural mind readers demand it, actually.
You said that the Petersons didn’t fit into the traditional “blonde haired blue eyed, rich, white” media bias. I in return said that there _is no_ blonde haired, blue eyed, rich white bias, that the bias is simply towards a certain race/class. Hair color has nothing to do with it. Neither does shoe size or favorite color. Skin color does. Then you began insisting that the Petersons weren’t rich. I countered that you don’t have to be _rich_ to fit into the media bias, simply middle to upper class, which the Petersons certainly were. Cue you getting all bent out of shape, claiming i’m “pretending” you’re saying things you’re not.
I think it would be better if you would attempt to help me understand where you’re coming from vs. getting all huffy that I’m apparently misunderstanding you, then offering no clarification, whatsoever.
It’s obvious we have differing opinions on who the media bias touches. This is a public message board. We’re allowed to have differing opinions. It’s what makes this board interesting. Just because I disagree with you doesn’t mean I don’t have any sense. Get over yourself.
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### Author:  [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2003, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-interested-in-laci-peterson/169825/116 "2003-04-23T21:47:35Z")
by **Monty** :
> [@](#):
>
> Oh. And for all the folks who say that the media’s only interested in Blonde, blue-eyed, Whites: Laci wasn’t blonde.
Silly me. I thought you were making a joke when you said this. Am I the only one who thought **Monty** was trying to be funny?
Newsflash: one doesn’t have to look Nordic to be white. I don’t think anyone has ever claimed the media is biased towards blondes, so maybe you can hunt for another strawman to rally against.
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### Author:  [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2003, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-interested-in-laci-peterson/169825/117 "2003-04-23T23:11:53Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by you with the face \*
> \*\*by **Monty** :
> Silly me. I thought you were making a joke when you said this. Am I the only one who thought **Monty** was trying to be funny?
>
> Newsflash: one doesn’t have to look Nordic to be white. I don’t think anyone has ever claimed the media is biased towards blondes, so maybe you can hunt for another strawman to rally against. \*\*
Christ ok, we all get it, let it go now.
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### Author:  [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2003, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-everyone-so-interested-in-laci-peterson/169825/118 "2003-04-24T00:42:33Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Christ ok, we all get it, let it go now.
Does Monty get it, **World Eater**? I haven’t seen any signs that he does.
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