AIBU to wonder why some child death cases get far more coverage?

[Glowingup]

https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15982951/Mother-weeps-guilty-killing-baby-daughter-hairdryer.html

I came across this horrific case but I am surprised that it’s very much flown under the radar compared to eg the Preston Davey case. I remember the long threads on how men shouldn’t be allowed to adopt because they are a risk to children. Yet here is a biological mother who killed her innocent defenceless baby in a painful and horrific way and lied about it and it’s barely mentioned in the press.

I am curious as to who decides which cases are the headline ones and which ones get forgotten about.

This is incredibly sad, and I really feel like giving my 5 and a half month old an extra big hug when he wakes up from his nap

I think sadly, a lot depends on who is committing the crime as to how it’s reported. It shouldn’t be this way - but I think we have a way to go as a society.

Well, in general:

some cases feature the child who has gone missing and so there’s publicity around the child trying to find them. In some cases the child has been taken in other cases not.

some cases feature obvious failures to intervene by various agencies. The case in the link seems to have been the first time the baby was injured and it led to death. By contrast cases where the child was known to SS or similar there’s an opportunity to intervene which was missed so it’s worth looking at procedures to see if that can be fixed.

a parent should one day randomly murders their child with no previous abuse is hard to spot and harder to stop.

This was the 4th story in the front of the DM last night. It was quite prominent.

Yes but she’s just been found guilty. I’ve heard nothing about her trial, no long pieces on her background or anything like that. And she’s not the first. There have been a number of parents (both mothers and fathers) convicted of killing their children in recent years and there’s little mention and little public outcry. I think the pp who mentioned that cases where there was a missed chance to intervene get more coverage, eg Sara Sharif, Preston Davey, Arthur Labinjo-Hughes. Whereas this one didn’t have those features.

I’m in Scotland. This story has been all over my social media for the last few weeks.

I couldn´t bring myself to read that story. 😢Poor little mite, not a chance. I just can´t get my head round these people.

Thats a good point and I am glad it got the coverage in the local area. I do wonder if the publicity on some level influences judges when sentencing too (even if they try to avoid being influenced). For instance the (deserved) sentences in the Preston case and Lucy Letby send a very strong message and they are as harsh as you can get. Would the judge have given a whole life order if there was less media scrutiny around the trial?

I think it’s appropriate it’s not been prominent until now. When she’d not been proven guilty I don’t think there’s a public interest in splashing her face across the papers, she may have been found innocent

That’s definitely the approach taken in other countries, some of which keep the identity of the defendant anonymous either forever or until a guilty verdict. But compare eg to Preston Davey where a blow by blow account of each day of the trial was published or broadcast as a podcast. Same with Lucy Letby. I don’t agree with trial by media but it is obvious that a choice is made by newspapers as to which cases to give massive coverage to and which ones to just mention in passing. But I think people are right that the ones that get publicity are the shock factor ones (the killer is a nurse or a teacher) or where there were multiple opportunities to save the child, so incompetence on the part of the authorities.

it really depends on how known the situation was to the public at the time it happened. I was on a jury of a really disturbing case and after it concluded I googled around and there was nothing about it. It’s only when the police have released their statement, the media caught it. Police rightfully won’t release any info during an investigation unless there’s public interest (something happens where someone has seen it happen and posts something online) because it can be damaging to the investigation and or trial.