To think men who murder their family don't deserve sympathetic news coverage?

[Felascloak]

This article in the independent has the headline "father found dead with his three children after leaving for theme park trip".
I thought it would be about some kind of accident that happened on the way home but no, it turns out he went to his Ex wives house, shot her and their three children then killed himself. The mother isn't even mentioned in the headline.

Further down there is a quote "hopefully we will remember these children for years to come, and how their lives were innocently taken by their father"
Innocently taken by their father shooting them?!! How is that innocent?

AIBU to be shocked and disgusted by this coverage?

[Felascloak]

Yep adjustable
stewie I will write to the IPCC if I get no joy from the independent

[NotYoda]

Yes Adjustable - I had not picked up on that. You are so right

[AdjustableWench]

Canyou

Yes, and the use of the passive voice doesn't help:
She was attacked
She was abused by her husband
She was assaulted
Etc.

I'd rather see the focus where it ought to be:
A man attacker her (if his identity is unknown)
Her husband abused her
A male acquaintance assaulted her
Etc.

The passive voice leaves the perpetrator out of the report, even if we know that logically there must be one.

[NotYoda]

Canyou

I agree - and I used it earlier.

[Canyouforgiveher]

Am I alone in hating the phrase "domestic violence"?

That nice tame cosy adjective "domestic" robs the noun of its full import - it is violence pure and simple.

I wish journalist would report that the wife was assaulted and beaten up by her husband several times rather than "she was the victim of domestic violence in the past" or "she had reported several instances of serious assault and battery against her husband" not "she had reported him for domestic violence".

[ThatStewie]

You can file a complaint with the IPCC. They'll come back with sOme guff about only accepting complaints from party directly involved but there is scope within their mandate for 'interested parties'to raise complaints that pertain to wider society/ individuals unable to make complaint themselves (ie being dead). I like to adds snotty comments about the Nationsl Union of Journalist guidelines on reporting VAWG only being 3 pages long & in bullet points.

[Felascloak]

Yeah probably. I am not very sympathetic given they pay copy editors to read things. If I made a mistake like that at work I'd be in hot water.
And take your point about Washington post. Independent should have some editorial say over stuff with their branding on though.

[prh47bridge]

Going to write to the independent

You would be better off writing to the Washington Post. This is their report which the Independent has reproduced unchanged apart from the headline. The original headline was "A dad took his children to a theme park. A day later, the police found their bodies."

I would agree with some other posters that the phrase, "innocently taken by their father" was either misreported or misspoken. I think the DA meant that the children were innocent, not that their father was.

[Felascloak]

I've written to the independent complaining. I specifically asked them to consider their wording to be more sympathetic to victims rather than murderers, given the issuesof violence against women and children. I will update when they reply. (Might name change too!)

[HermioneWeasley]

NN I'm so sorry that happened in your community. I'm pleased the reporting got challenged.

[ThatStewie]

There's lots of research into the gendered way in which murder is reported. Women who kill are psychotic bitches; men are distressed/ill/depressed. UK media (with some exceptions in New Statesman/Guardian/Telegraph) are absolutely complicit in the minimisation of men's responsibility to commit violence.

[AskBasil]

YANBU

It is such breathtakingly obvious misogyny, it's amazing that they're still doing this in 2016

[TendonQueen]

This really pisses me off too. It's deliberately painting murderous bastards as helpless victims of circumstance.

[Felascloak]

Yeah, its upsetting me that even in death, caused by the man, the reporting has to be all about him, eulogising about what a great family man he was. Nothing about the woman and the loss to the world that she was murdered. It is so sad and a damning indictment on the value of mens lives vs women's
RIP Megan

[NeedACleverNN]

No. Can't find it

But it basically said to stop focusing on what such a nice guy he was and how out of character it was and focus more on the fact that these two women lost their lives because of him

[NotYoda]

thisis

Yes, the article is just weird. The emphasis is all wrong at the beginning.

[LilacSpunkMonkey]

And at the same time one of the red-tops has a front page story today of a man stabbed 40+ times by his mistress. It's all talk of 'craziness' and 'revenge' on the mistresses part. I'm not for a second excusing what she's done but why is that reported so very differently?

Why are family annihilators given so much sympathetic press? It's always painted as if they were driven to it, they were just so sad and upset, so lonely, missing their kids, etc.

No, they're just nasty, manipulative bastards.

[NeedACleverNN]

That's my town Hermione

There was uproar on a local spotted page about all the articles focusing on him. I'll see if I can find what they said

[thisismyfirsttime]

I read a few replies before looking at the article and even so I was shocked! Aww, poor dad found dead with his kids on a trip to a theme park. Tragic. Except they didn't go to a theme park, he shot his children and THE MOTHER who was only mentioned further into the article. Wtf?!

[ShotgunNotDoingThePans]

There's a resigned 'just one of those things' air about this sort of reporting - they're often described as tragedies but never the fucking unacceptable, unforgiveable outrage they actually are.

[HermioneWeasley]

It reminds me of the media coverage of the recent case in Spalding where a man killed his wife and daughter - shot them outside the swimming pool.

It was all about what a great guy he was. No he wasn't, he was an abusive cunt who was very upset his favourite doormat was finally leaving him.

[Felascloak]

Oh sorry. I am just really riled by it, I do understand there might be legal implications but this has gone too far I think.
I do also think there is a pattern in reporting where these kind of crimes aren't described as "murder". Like the honour killings, as yorkie said. Almost as if the victims deserved it

[NNChangeAgain]

cloak* I wasn't referring to this particular case though - I was responding to the conspiracy theory suggested by a PP about the media that implied they "hide" the details of the perpetrator.
I wish I hadn't bothered, TBH

[JacquettaWoodville]

Agree re reporting of family annihilation.

Christopher Jeffries received substantial conpensation from two newspapers, IIRC. No excuse, but shows that it is policed to an extent.

[Felascloak]

NN there's a difference between making sure coverage doesn't prejudice legal proceedings and writing a headline and article that suggests that these children and father just accidentally died (and really neglects to mention the mother)
Also the press don't seem overly bothered usually, e.g. reporting on Chris Jefferies springs to mind.
I find it really disturbing that the story is portrayed as some kind of tragic event when it was entirely avoidable, he was a murderer.
I've since found some coverage on feminist current, glad its not just me finding the reporting of this distasteful
www.feministcurrent.com/2016/08/09/megan-short-punished-death-naming-problem/