The media has a sacred duty to report on the news as fairly and as accurately as possible. Many times it does this. Sometimes, it doesn't.
The unfortunate truth of the matter is that media is also charged with a need to make money. Unlike the other protected professions in the U.S. Constitution, the media is a private industry that must support itself financially. The balance is difficult, at best. On one hand, there's a need, a duty, to report fairly and accurately. On the other, there's a need to be financially solvent.
Unfortunately, the two don't always meet on a level playing field.
To sell papers, get hits on web sites and keep people tuned in, it sometimes takes a little sensationalism. This is perhaps most evident in the kinds of headlines those in the media choose to run. The idea behind them is to pull people in, get their attention, and make them want to read or see more.
Sometimes, the headlines are good. Other times they brand a case or a story as something more, or even less, than it is. Take the so-called Xbox murder case in Florida.
There's no doubt an Xbox was involved in the murder. There's also no doubt the entire story is tragic, disgusting and sad. But, the story isn't about an Xbox; it's about the depravity of some human beings.
In this case, three men bludgeoned to death six people. They beat them to death because one of the six had kicked one of the three out of a home where he had been staying illegally. The victim kept the man's Xbox and some clothes in addition to kicking him out.
The man charged as the ringleader in the attacks, Troy Victorino, was squatting in the home. He was there illegally. He got kicked out of his ill-gotten home and allegedly talked two others into helping him make the person responsible pay the ultimate price along with five others.
The case is twisted. It's sad. Six people lost their lives and three young people forfeited theirs. But, it's not really about an Xbox. It's about what appears to be a very sick man who had power over his friends and a desire to kill.
Lawyers have described Victorino as "kind of a Charles Manson."
While almost every story in regard to this case will lead with a headline that has Xbox in it, (including mine) it's a misnomer. The case could have just as easily been called the Squatter Murders or the Clothes Murders, but those wouldn't have captured attention as well.
The simple fact of the matter is the Xbox console being involved is more sensational and more likely to capture attention – readers and viewers. So, that's what the media ran with. Using a catchy name, a sensational title, gets interest and it brands a story as distinctly unique. Simply, it sells.
The sad truth on the other side of the coin is the fact there are those who will now believe a game console "made them do it." It will add fuel to a fire that's already threatening to burn out of control. There are those who believe games are evil and this case is proof of that to these people, along with dozens of others they choose to blame on games rather than the people who committed the acts.
Is the media wrong in labeling its stories? No, the truth is it's a tool to make them more easily identifiable by readers and viewers. No one knows what you're talking about if you say "those murders in Florida," but they do if you say "the Xbox murders," "the Manson murders" or the "BTK killings."
It's our job as readers and viewers to separate the facts of what we read and realize there's more to these stories than the sensational hook they get pegged on. The Florida case isn't about an Xbox, it's about the loss of six lives in a senseless killing.
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