CNN Story - WTF?!

[CraigSca]

This is a story about a young toddler who was taken hostage by her stepfather (I think) last month in LA's Watts section. The story ends in tragedy, as the toddler was killed in the gunfight between police and her stepfather. The gist of the story is that an autopsy has shown that there were trace amounts of cocaine in the young girls' system (either from second-hand smoke or breast milk). Absolutely tragic, but what gets my ire is the last paragraph of the story:

"The autopsy report released earlier this week concluded the girl suffered two gunshot wounds by police, including one shot that blew out most of her brain."

Was sharing this necessary? Could perhaps SOME discretion be used before publishing a story like this?!

EDIT: Link to the sotry here: http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/08/05/lap...ath/index.html

[Hurst2112]

heathens...

[NoMyths]

I was thinking the same thing. In an earlier story, that provided the headline for the piece. Seems pretty biased and unnecessary, and I'm at a loss for why they'd want to cast the story in that kind of light.

[sachmo71]

I was listening to a story about a Russian bathyscape trapped under the Pacific Ocean on NPR this morning. Apparently, their propeller was fouled by a fishing net. The US and Japan are racing to the rescue.

At the end of the story, the commentator mentioned that 5 years ago, the Russian sub Kursk was lost in the Barents Sea with all hands. The relevance? The only connection I can make between the two is that they are both Russian subs, but it would lead the listener to think, "Damn, Russian subs are dangerous!", even though the events have absoultely nothing to do with one another.

Media monkeys!

[NoMyths]

Eh, the connection there isn't as unwarranted...first thing that came to my mind when I saw the headline was the Kursk. Russian subs are dangerous.

[jeff061]

Heh, the headline on the CNN front page for a couple days was "Bullet blows away toddler's brain". Didn't need to open up any article to see it. I thought their choice of words and headline was quite odd.

[sachmo71]

Originally Posted by NoMyths

Eh, the connection there isn't as unwarranted...first thing that came to my mind when I saw the headline was the Kursk. Russian subs are dangerous.

Except this sub is an exploration sub, without exploding torpedoes?

[Samdari]

Originally Posted by CraigSca

This is a story about a young toddler who was taken hostage by her stepfather (I think) last month in LA's Watts section. The story ends in tragedy, as the toddler was killed in the gunfight between police and her stepfather. The gist of the story is that an autopsy has shown that there were trace amounts of cocaine in the young girls' system (either from second-hand smoke or breast milk). Absolutely tragic, but what gets my ire is the last paragraph of the story:

"The autopsy report released earlier this week concluded the girl suffered two gunshot wounds by police, including one shot that blew out most of her brain."

Was sharing this necessary? Could perhaps SOME discretion be used before publishing a story like this?!

EDIT: Link to the sotry here: http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/08/05/lap...ath/index.html

Those are the facts, I don't see the problem. If you read the story, you see that the guy was shooting at cops while using his two year old daughter as a shield. Tough to fault the cops for shooting back. This loon put them in an impossible situation.

[CraigSca]

You may have misinterpreted me - I have no problem with the story, but I do take exception to the italicized paragraph. Do we need to know that one shot "blew out most of her brain"?

[Hurst2112]

Originally Posted by Samdari

Those are the facts, I don't see the problem. If you read the story, you see that the guy was shooting at cops while using his two year old daughter as a shield. Tough to fault the cops for shooting back. This loon put them in an impossible situation.

So I guess the act of shooting a criminal with a hostage in hand, like in so many cop movies (Heat?) is harder than hollywood makes it look.

[Hurst2112]

Originally Posted by CraigSca

You may have misinterpreted me - I have no problem with the story, but I do take exception to the italicized paragraph. Do we need to know that one shot "blew out most of her brain"?

i don't mind it. might make people think "why the FUCK do people like this get to keep their children?!?! I wonder if there is something I can do to make sure this doesn't happen again."

God works funny sometimes.

[NoMyths]

Originally Posted by sachmo71

Except this sub is an exploration sub, without exploding torpedoes?

If a Russian sub is trapped on the bottom of the ocean and then another Russian sub is trapped on the bottom of the ocean, I don't know, I guess I'm just silly but similarities seem to suggest themselves.

If it were a sub vs. a llama, then it would probably be unwarranted. But come on now.

[sachmo71]

Well, with the llama vs sub comparison, it does lean you toward the silly side.

Maybe it's just me...

[WSUCougar]

Originally Posted by jeff061

Heh, the headline on the CNN front page for a couple days was "Bullet blows away toddler's brain". Didn't need to open up any article to see it. I thought their choice of words and headline was quite odd.

If I'm not mistaken the headline I saw on CNN.com said "Police bullet blew away toddler's brain" which I personally think is irresponsible journalism.

[NoMyths]

Originally Posted by WSUCougar

If I'm not mistaken the headline I saw on CNN.com said "Police bullet blew away toddler's brain" which I personally think is irresponsible journalism.

Yup, that's the original one I saw, and I agree completely. Can't believe that passed through the editors unchecked.

I mean, can you imagine the headline "Friendly fire bullets blew away Pat Tillman's brain" for that story? Of course not. The only reason for such a weighted headline is an attempt to make the story, and it's definitely irresponsible.