Tracy Dingmann
I have just a couple of things to say about the pictures the Journal published today on the front page of unconscious or possibly dead women who may or may not be linked to the West Mesa Murders.
First, let me say that from the instant the West Mesa bodies were discovered back in the winter of 2009, I have been in favor of more news coverage, not less, of this horrible crime. (You can see what I wrote about it in a column for the New Mexico Independent here.)
I favored more coverage for two reasons. Not only could publicity of the crimes possibly help the police solve them. But I also strongly believed that the community’s outcry over their deaths and the resulting deluge of news stories about them was a way, however belated, to dignify their abbreviated lives.
We all saw that those West Mesa victims had tough lives – the kind of lives shared by a sizable segment of women in this town. Besides their loving families, not many people in Albuquerque were concerned about the victims while they were alive. Sadly, it took the shocking discovery of their mass grave to make the rest of the city even care.
But there’s a line between publicity and exploitation – and the think the Journal crossed it today.
Publishing pictures of unknown women who may or not be DEAD on the front page is simply beyond the pale.
Voyeurism and Exploitation
Looking at the pictures, I am reminded of a line from an essay by NPR’s Anne Taylor Fleming, written in the summer of 2002 when a number of high-profile child kidnappings and murders sparked mawkish and incessant coverage by the media.
Fleming wrote that the barrage of salacious stories was akin to “voyeurism and exploitation doing a devil’s dance with legitimate grief.”
And I think the publication of these women’s pictures is a perfect example of that.
It might be one thing if there were a clear connection between the murders and pictures. But, as the accompanying story reveals, police concede the connection between the pictures and the murders is highly unclear.
Neither the Journal nor the police have any clue who these women are or under what circumstances the photos were taken.
Some of these women might be long-dead West Mesa murder victims – but some of them might be walking around among us.
So how is publication of those pictures on the front page of the morning newspapers going to help police solve the case?
I fail to see it.
And I weep for those women – whoever they are – whose pictures were published today.
Update: http://apdsigs.blogspot.com/2010/12/update-on-unidentified-women.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Stay tuned…
Ms. Tracy, how goes it!?
Don’t you think publishing these photos is a good way to determine who these women are and IF they are still alive? While these photos may be disturbing to some, I should think it’s more disturbing to potential victim’s families not knowing the fate of their loved ones. Exploitation should be delineated by motive. Do you REALLY think the Journal’s motive in publishing these photos was to stir up a bit of sensationalism to sell a few more newspapers? Tracy, you know I love you, but self-righteous indignation does not look nearly as good on you as does Manolo Blahniks. — Rick
We should have all the coverage we can of this. If it were upper middle class white women from the heights, they would be covering it on a daily basis and the pressure on the police would be overwhelming. Heck, even Nancy Grace would be swooping down on it.
Hey Rick,
Miss you, friend! Manolo Blahniks…too funny.
I don’t know about the motive, but if it really was to solve this crime, I wish they would have considered alternative ways to publicize these pictures. Run them inside, perhaps, or publicize APD’s website with pictures of the women.
Tracy
Just wanted to put my two cents in:
APD asked the Journal, and other local media, to run these photos because they said it would help them solve the crime.
In that light, should we delegate the photos to inside the paper or print a website that people might or might not go to? Or should we publish the photos where they will be seen to maximize the opportunity for police to make a break in their months long case that appears to be going cold?
It’s not for me to decide, but the paper did not seek out these pictures. If it helps them get their man/woman, I say the paper acted in the right.
The alternative is wondering if someone could have helped out if we had done more, while victim families continue to suffer without justice. But hey, at least we wouldn’t have had to show some people photos that they might find unpleasant.
Most recent news has a few women identified, including some whose families have asked their names not be released BECAUSE of the potential harm caused by publicity. The connection between these pictures and the West mesa murders is still not clear – even less so since the ones identified so far do not appear to be missing women/victims. Granted, the living status of the identified women was not known at the time of publication, but neither was the connection to the West Mesa murders. I find this troubling.