To wonder why bigger outcry for genetic strangers murdering children than their own parents

[Rowanhart]

www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/gateshead-mum-partner-found-guilty-11407072

To me a baby being killed by their own mother is more shocking. Being killed by the one person supposed to protect you is more horrific than a predator (although,of course, equally distressing)

But for the media and many people a stranger is the bigger story.

I wonder why.

[Okay377]

There are many cases reported where parents kill their children. Many make the front pages. Think of baby P and other horrific cases.

Not every case makes the front pages. But few horrific crimes 'make the front pages'. Sadly there are too many horrific crimes and too few front pages.

Stranger murders may have more publicity because there has previously been a public appeal for information. And if it is rarer, that is another reason why it might be more publicised.

Court reporting is to be the eyes of the public in court. It's why it is vital we support both local and national journalism. So that as many horrific cases as possible are in the public domain.

[Okay377]

And if the case you are talking about is that of baby Liam (I can't click on your link) it has certainly been reported in the national papers.

[katemiddletonsnudeheels]

To answer the question, it is because it doesn't usually involve a missing child.

Cases which are in the forefront of the media for a period of weeks are there to try and locate the child, hopefully safely. Holly and Jessica were missing for two weeks; Sarah Payne a similar length of time.

By contrast when a young girl I taught was murdered she barely made the national press because her body was found straightaway As a point of interest she was six months pregnant at the time yet her killer was only tried and convicted over one murder. To say abortion is murder is really rather unpleasant.

[Onlyicanclean10]

Who the fuck would consider bringing abortion into this discussion.

[EveryoneElsie]

I think the current figure is 2 children a week are murdered by their own parents, about 50 a year. It has doubled in recent years.

I think losing a child is every normal parents worst nightmare,. but we dont fantasise about killing them. So we can relate to parents who have had a child abducted; but not to parents who have murdered a child.

We want to know how to avoid having our child abducted so follow the story. We dont need to know how not to kill our own child and dont ant to think about it.
I think many people are also aware of PND and post partum psychosis; those women cannot be held responsible for their actions, no matter how terrible. Blaming them is cruel and useless.

[Discopanda]

Just used the link, absolutely heartbreaking. I agree with the PPs in that there is more coverage when there is more investigation needed.

[makingmiracles]

Who were the "other children in their care"?

[Catmuffin]

Brothers?

[A11TheSmallTh1ngs]

Total nonsense.

Like Baby P wasn't a big case? Or Victoria Climbie? People who kill their own children are considered more shocking.

[JoffreyBaratheon]

I don't think there's a scale of relativity, really. All murder is murder.

When there is an added aspect that makes a story 'saleable' (like the parents are same sex partners) then our neanderthal press will always have more of a field day. But I'm not sure press outrage really reflects anything other than editors' ideas of what sells copy.

[whois]

Where the fuck were the fathers of these poor boys??? Fucking animals leaving their tiny children to be abused by the evil women.

[Just5minswithDacre]

To the extent that it is true (only partially), it's because we know we won't kill our DC, so 'stranger danger' frightens us more.

[bumbleymummy]

I think I've seen far more 'big stories' in the news recently about children being abused/killed by their own family than by strangers.

[A11TheSmallTh1ngs]

You know what, This conversation is so fucking tasteless! Children are dead here. coopting these tragedies for some smug twatty post about the media and how everyone's wrong but you is just vile. It's all implied but it's crass nonetheless.

oh, sigh, why won't these strangers react to child murder in the way I deem most appropriate. I'm so much more entitled and empathetic blah blah blah

[Just5minswithDacre]

Media coverage does matter A11; it affects how people react when they see something concerning.

[SmallLegsOrSmallEggs]

Where the fuck were the fathers of these poor boys???

The father was living in the city the mothers moved away from taking his dc with them and then he was in court crying his eyes out his child has been murdered I don't think it's very fair to blame him.

[A11TheSmallTh1ngs]

Just5

Oh please, what bullshit

So There are tons of people who think child murder is totes amaze - as long as it's done by the kids mom - but a few more daily fail headlines will change their mind, will it?

Especially since, as we've clearly confirmed, newspapers always ignore stories of child murder by family members and these things go completely unremarked upon.

Oh wait, except that's not true at all.

[Just5minswithDacre]

Oh please, what bullshit

So There are tons of people who think child murder is totes amaze - as long as it's done by the kids mom - but a few more daily fail headlines will change their mind, will it?

You've completely lost me A111. I don't remember saying anything like that.

If you don't think media reporting of crime is important try googling 'missing white woman syndrome' or research what impact a high-profile abuse case has on the level of reports made to social services and NSPCC.

[raisedbyguineapigs]

I think part of it is the fact that stranger murders are far, far more rare, but also from a self preservation point of view, we look at these cases and think it couldn't happen to my child, because we couldn't treat our children that way. But if a stranger was to come and abduct you child, there is little you could do about it. Unfortunately in a lot of cases, even when a child is killed by a 'stranger', it's not a stranger at all, but a relative or friend of the family.

[Rowanhart]

Actually A11 wasn't making a 'twatty comment about media' but trying to understand why we all focus on the rare example of kidnapped and murdered children rather than te regular occurance of babies being killed by people who are supposed to love them.

In his instance, the mothers of this baby tortured him and his brothers to a Hindley and Bradey level. Horrific. But coverage tiny in comparison.

To say not able to discuss these kinds of issues is just daft. Media coverage matters because it is reflection of our values and opinions.

[LassWiTheDelicateAir]

And if the case you are talking about is that of baby Liam (I can't click on your link) it has certainly been reported in the national papers

The trial was reported on a daily basis in the Scottish media however the press collectively took the decision that the level of abuse was so horrific that what was disclosed in court could not be openly reported.

[MyBreadIsEggy]

I've been watching a series of documentaries lately all about one monumental US case of triple child murder. After watching the documentaries, reading a couple of books, and researching the case myself, it is blatantly obvious to me that definitely one if not two fathers of the murdered children were responsible. But instead of the parents being questioned or having DNA samples taken, three local young men, who clearly had no connection to the children or the alleged crime scene, and had alibis for the time of the crime were arrested and eventually convicted.
One of the (wrongly) accused men said that he and his friends were used as a scapegoat, because it's much less scary for the public to believe children have been murdered by strangers than at the hands of their own parents.
And I agree with him. As children we are all taught "stranger danger". Most kids couldn't comprehend the idea that their own parents could be a danger to them - even though domestic killings are way more common.

[MyBreadIsEggy]

(Should probably add that 20 years after the original conviction, all three men were released from prison, their convictions overturned. As there were so many people from around the world who had examined evidence from the case and were rallying in support for them. Not a single shred of evidence - DNA or otherwise - could place any of them anywhere near the murdered children or at the crime scene)

[LassWiTheDelicateAir]

When there is an added aspect that makes a story 'saleable' (like the parents are same sex partners) then our neanderthal press will always have more of a field day. But I'm not sure press outrage really reflects anything other than editors' ideas of what sells copy

That is actually a ridiculous comment. The press coverage I have seen of Liam Fee case has made nothing of the fact it was a same sex couple beyond the rather unavoidable fact of mentioning the accused both had girls names and were a couple.