Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez’s (Pretty Kickass) Article On The Media And Philip Markoff Has Us Wondering: Do Latinos Believe In Journalism?
6 May 2009, 6:30 PM. By Alex Alvarez
Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez (you remember her) wrote a puhretty great article on the media’s obsession with casting white men - in this case, “Craigslist Killer” Philp Markoff - as the Good Guys and the tendency of reporters to weave a story of shock when a young white man deviates from a life of quietly working at an accounting firm in Omaha and occasionally helping old ladies across the street.
Alisa takes note of how major news outlets from the New York Daily News to the Associated Press used terms like “clean-cut” and “handsome” to describe what some editors might alternatively refer to as “kinda schlumpy:”
The hidden code in the news coverage of Markoff, as it was for “preppy killer” Robert Chambers and countless other white male killers, has been clear: tall young white guys, especially middle-class or wealthy ones in college, just don’t do stuff like this. Except that they do.
Our boyfriend quotes us all the time for having once informed him that “journalism doesn’t exist.” And that’s something we truly believe. You cannot pick up a newspaper or click on a blog, leaf through a magazine or click on the television and expect to find anything that provides hard news devoid of a long list of clichés - like the aforementioned “clean-cut.”
Let’s say Markoff had a ponytail and five o’clock shadow. Would this have altered the fact that he took a life? Sure it would have. Because facts exist on a timeline and are always at the mercy of culture and society. We’re sure you’re all familiar with the saying “History is written by the winners.” Well, these same winners also dictate what constitutes as a fact. Fact: Markoff - a white male, young, engaged to a woman - is clean-cut and he is handsome. No, you don’t have to look at him to know this.
So. Do Latinos or, more specifically, Guanabee readers, take in and process the news differently than other groups of people? If people who look like your cousin, your girlfriend, your dad and your brother are constantly cast as either the village idiot or the evil foe or the rickety old witch in the fairytale that is woven by mainstream media, at what point do you stop taking it seriously? At what point do you lose faith in concepts of journalistic integrity or the idea of hard news?
We read the news to get an idea about what happened, how it happened, when, where, by whom, to whom and, maybe, why it happened, sure. But we also read the news to gain insight into what dominant culture has to say about itself and those who exist on the fringes.
The media on Philip Markoff [Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez]
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nice
“But we also read the news to gain insight into what dominant culture has to say about itself and those who exist on the fringes.”
Um, I hope you’re not being serious. I mean, are you really that clueless? Also, Alisa didn’t complain when the media was fawning over Barack Obama (who doesn’t look like a typical White male), but she certainly has no problem complaining when people refer to a White male as clean cut and handsome.
I am not sure I see what about that statement is clueless. I personally think I am too lazy when perusing news to fight off all the stereotypes coming at me, but if one makes that attempt, isn’t that precisely having a clue? Or seeking a clue? Or playing Clue while reading??? It was the Guest in the Comments with the diarrheamouth.
I agree
I watch local and national news. I read different newspapers - mostly online. All that stuff. Most of the time I gather the facts and move on - I don’t necessarily want to hear the slanted, stereotypical stuff. And the Dallas Morning News is the worst at doing that so you have to build up a resistance to their bullshit.
People ask me why I even bother with DMN because they are known for their stereotypical crap. But the truth is, I live here and I need to know my neighbors. Those are the people who walk down my streets and sit next to me on the train. I need to know how they view me and others like me. More importantly, I need to know how they view themselves.
I totally agree
I watch the news to see what’s going on in the world around me… I do listen to what they have to say but I don’t necessarily agree with it. I don’t understand why they have to stereotype. No matter what someone looks like, whether it’s a trashy looking person or an upper class, preppy person… we don’t know what’s going on in their head. They are all just fucking disgusting people. There isn’t one social classes where you can say it was unexpected.
For the craigslist killer it almost seems like if they want us to sympathize for him because supposedly he isn’t the “type” of person who commits crimes. But looking back he is the that type…