SHREDITORIAL

Hardly a week goes by during which we do not see the face of a hitherto anonymous person achieving instant fame and misfortune by killing someone or committing some other execrable act.

We suspect a deep need on the part of many of these desperate people, living under the weight of their own underachievement, to break free of their nagging anonymity and make a statement about their own existence – knowing that a particularly heinous crime is the royal road to the ego distinction they so desperately seek, even if it costs them their lives. 

We believe the media unwittingly act as accomplices in the misconceived drive for distinction of these offenders by the routine manner in which photographs and videotapes of the criminals, along with excited reports about the details of their hitherto hapless lives, are immediately spread around the world, allowing the evildoers to achieve a place on the world stage on a par with the most important and distinguished citizens of the world.

We suggest that the media immediately cease from this provocative, as well as exceedingly annoying, practice and refuse to publish the photographs or videos of people who commit horrible crimes.  The acts can and should be reported in simple notices, such as those that appear on any police blotter.  This change in policy is not, as some will expectedly maintain, a question of the conduct of a free press; it is a question of crime prevention and saving lives.

Relegating such criminals to the media backburner should result in three immediate benefits.  First, far fewer of these miscreants will risk their lives in an attempt to seek what little satisfaction they can expect in terms of instant acknowledgement. 

Second, we suggest that copious photographs and videos of the perpetrators be used to publicize the acts of those who commit minor crimes.  As a result, a great many who were contemplating heinous crimes to achieve fame will decide to commit minor infractions instead, so they can at least get their photos in local media.

Third, the nation’s sky will no longer be painted grey everyday by the ceaseless presentation of the activities of its most regrettable citizens, so we can actually begin to think at times that life as presented in the media somewhat represents life as we find it in our neighborhoods. 

Of course, this revised policy will cause certain inconveniences for the news media by eliminating one of the most reliable sources of heat it pumps into its daily tempest in a teapot.  But, as any forester knows, big trees stand out and do better when the scrub brush is cut away, and, we contend, so will the truly important stories, along with admiration for the media, tower all the more.

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