The Murder Business: How the Media Turns Crime into Entertainment and Subverts Justice | Date: 15 April 2011, 16:18
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Mark Fuhrman's "The Murder Business" deserves to be read by media hosts, media producers, media contributors, and media ethicists, as well as everyone who has ever felt compelled to follow a news story of a missing/murdered young person. It is a formidable contribution to the debate about media ethics, and the relationship between the media and law enforcement - what it is, and what it ought to be - based on Fuhrman's unique perspective stemming from his dual experience in law enforcement for 20 years and now himself a media contributor. As such, it weighs in with as much authority and insight as his bombshell of a book from a few years ago, "Death and Justice," about the death penalty. Ever wondered why it is that only a few, out of the thousands of missing persons each year, get the 24/7 "star" treatment by the media? Fuhrman lays out the answer: these vanished persons are deliberately selected by the media for their perceived appeal - which apparently means female, young, pretty, and white - as well as for their cast of friends and family who may provide plenty of entertaining TV segments; in other words, for ratings. But we rarely hear about the countless missing persons who, because of their age, gender and ethnicity, are not considered good story potential.
And Fuhrman points out additional issues where the media have been lacking in the ethics department: Media coverage should not obstruct the work of law enforcement or pollute a jury pool. At times the media spotlight has been so invasive and extensive that it has endangered the successful prosecution of a crime. At other times the media could have helped solve mysteries or kept public interest alive, but instead did little or caved in to political pressure.
Some people might ask how Fuhrman can be critical of media coverage of murder cases since he himself is part of the media, covering such cases for FOX News. But Fuhrman's book demonstrates how to cover them the way his professional experience has taught him is the right way: with a sense of ethics toward the investigation, collaboration with law enforcement, and responsibility toward the victim and his or her family - an approach that FOX has made possible for him to pursue in his investigative work for the news channel. Using some of the most high-profile murder cases in recent years as illustrations of shaky media ethics, such as the stories of Caylee Anthony and Stacy Peterson, the chapters quickly review the basic stories then reveal new details and treat us to previously unreported behind-the-scenes events.
Particularly riveting is the account of Fuhrman's encounter with Drew Peterson; and his comparison of a media journalist's disastrous interview with a suspect, with a genuine interrogation by a seasoned detective. These examples and others provide stunning insight into not only his own investigations, but also into the enormously influential powers of the media networks seeking to scoop stories before the others do. Inevitably, for those of us who have followed the O.J. Simpson criminal trial and read Fuhrman's own perspective in "Murder in Brentwood," the final chapters of "The Murder Business" are perhaps the most intriguing, and disturbing, because here we finally get to see, in print, the ugly story of why Fuhrman's partner, Brad Roberts - who could have been put on the witness stand, with the likely result of Simpson being convicted of murder - instead was excluded from the trial by the prosecution team, for self-serving reasons. A moot point now? Perhaps, but shouldn't we know how it really went down at an important turning point for U.S. jurisprudence? Thanks to "The Murder Business," we can now read the rest of the story.
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