CLEWS The Historic True Crime Blog

A wee rant

Your correspondent had something to get off her chest and did so over at In Cold Blog today because I'm sick to death of

<><><>16 PAGES OF SHOCKING PHOTOS! <><><>

The Mass Media's Mass Hysteria

Occasionally our mass media tries to put a headline crime in context. They usually succeed only in displaying grotesque laziness and historical illiteracy.

The tragedy at Virginia Tech was not even close! to being "the worst massacre in US history" or the "worst shooting massacre in US history" -- and to call it such is to put on public display your utter and complete ignorance.

"Worst massacre?" Have you forgotten 9/11 already? Oklahoma City? What about the multiple massacres of Native Americans? Take your pick. Ever hear of Wounded Knee? What about the Mountain Meadows Massacre?

Nor was it even the worst "school massacre" or "campus massacre" in the United States. This was. You'd think our media would've figured this out when they erroneously labeled Columbine the "worst school massacre in US history."

Are they so hyped up on sensationalism that their memory fails them? Or do they just not give a good goddamn?

It is truly regrettable for so many reasons. The public is left to think that mass murders are now an "epidemic," that our society has somehow worsened over time, and that our laws have to be changed to respond to new threats. Without an accurate historical context, it's easy to come to the wrong conclusions.

Thank God the only copycats to surface so far are our nation's lazy, stupid journalists.

The following are new members of the Clews Hall of Shame! Shame! Shame! This list would be even longer, but I'll give media outside the US a pass on this one. Each of these media outlets screwed up (though there's always the faint hope that, by the time you click on these links, some might have corrected themselves) --

• MSNBC - "the worst school massacre in US history"
• ABC - George Stephanopoulos: "The worst campus massacre before Virginia Tech was back in the University of Texas in 1966."
• Newsweek - "worst massacre in U.S. history"
• Time - "the worst massacre in US history"
• Baltimore Sun - "the worst school massacre in US history"
• Los Angeles Times - "the worst school massacre in history"
• Court TV Crime Library ("the worst mass murder in American history," indeed! This is a particularly egregious and unforgivable error on a website that purports to offer encyclopedic treatment of historic crimes, including articles on the Bath massacre and Mountain Meadows.)
• New Jersey Star-Ledger - "America's worst campus massacre"
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution - "worst campus massacre in US history"
• New York Daily News - "the worst campus massacre in American history"
• Troy Record - "the nation's worst massacre"
• WorldNetDaily - "America's worst school massacre"
• Campus Times - "worst school massacre in United States history"
• Shreveport Times - "worst massacre in American history"
• Asheville Citizen-Times "The worst massacre in U.S. history"
• Janesville Gazette - "the worst massacre in US history"
• Roanoke Times - "worst school massacre in US history"
• Daily Titan - "worst massacre in US history"
• Bakersfield Californian - "the worst massacre in the country's history."

True Crime is (Not) Trashy

The kind of true crime I like to read is trashy to some people. Everyone's tastes are different in music, literature, clothes, cars, and true crime, too. One man's trash is another man's treasure, literally sometimes.

I loved this post by Payned & Magnolia, true crime bloggers, who talk about their early obsession with "blood-bath books" and the limits on their personal tastes in true crime today:

Collectors of murderabilia upset me. I am sure some of them are the nicest people in the world, but I just can not understand the fascination with having something belonging to a killer or from a crime scene in your home. It would feel to much like inviting evil into my house to purchase one of these seemingly prized possesions.

Maybe it's my Irish grandma's superstition drilled into my head, or maybe, it's just weird. Letters written by a killer, boards from BTK's home , serial-killer trading cards, t-shirts, actual weapons have been for sale at some time or another. Autopsy photos, you name it, someone has tried to sell it at one time or another. And the amazing thing is, they have been successful! Who in there right mind would want the a drawing by Charles Manson warming their front hallway?

And let's be honest, if you walked into your neighbor's home and saw John Wayne Gacy's self portrait hanging over their fireplace you wouldn't high-tail it out the front door quickly?

I don't know, maybe I am being too hard on these folks, but I can not possibly see how having the 'proposed' axe that Lizzy Borden allegedly used to chop her family up is going to make my life more fullfilling. Am I missing something? Do others think this practice is acceptable? I have to wonder how the victims' families feel. Do they mind having autopsy photos of their loved ones hanging in someone parlor as a conversation starter?

And all I can add is that they're entitled to their personal tastes.

For me, I'd love to own Lizzie's axe!

The girl-with-axe photo above was found on a website called (I kid you not) Who Would Buy That: Auction Oddities from All over the Web.