Given the fact that a church was attacked close to Christmas would seem to be newsworthy enough, but considering the fact that the church attended by Gov. Palin was set fire in such a manner as to kill those inside at the time should have warranted heavy media coverage. However, the only network which devoted any time to the story was Fox News.Gibson goes on to give several reasons why he believes that the drive-by media paid relatively little attention to the hate crime. Some of them we find more plausible than others. But speculation on the reasons behind the church torching in Alaska is just that -- speculation.
A quick internet search on the church fire will yield some coverage on a few obscure websites, but beyond Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren’s coverage which lasted only a few days, there was no major media attention given to the crime.
In our opinion what is far more important is just the fact that the media, after some scattered intial reporting of the fire, has completely ignored the matter. As Gibson points out, had this been Obama's church, the media would have moved heaven and earth to try to help the authorities identify the culprit or culprits. Substantial cash rewards would have been offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of any perps. The story would have stayed at the top of the news until the case had been solved and the judicial system convicted and decreed punishment.
But because this is the church that Gov. Sarah Palin attends when she is in Wasilla, the media couldn't care less about it. Their indifference to the crime has deprived authorities of possible clues from the public for their investigation. So the case still remains unsolved on this, the six month anniversary of the night arsonist(s) poured gasoline around every exit and ignited it.
- JP
Remember, this wasn't 'just' an arson fire. It was very dark outside, there were cars in the parking lot. The lights were on. A peek through the windows would show there were women and children inside. The several areas of origin showed the perpetrator intended to block those inside from exiting the building.
ReplyDeleteSo, yes a hate crime, but also attempted murder of several people.
The FBI still has an open case on this fire. I'm sure any and all leads are welcome and will be investigated.
Would things be different if this was the church Obama attends, you bet! But he had already won the presidency. Governor Palin was 'only' the failed VP candidate and 'only' the Alaskan Governor.
I doubt the FBI, the ATF, the state's fire marshal needed media investigating. I do think the ladies and children inside the building need to have closure of this. They need to put aside their fears that somehow they were the target, their church was the target. Perhaps by the low key media, the potential victims have been able to put this aside and move on.
The object of my post was not to ask the media to investigate the crime, just to cover it.
ReplyDeleteMany perps are captured as a direct result of tips from viewers, listeners and readers in the media's audience who call police with valuable information.
- JP
http://texas4palin.blogspot.com/2009/06/why-did-media-ignore-wasilla-bible.html
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