Newsmaker of 2012: bad choice

And the results are in: a low-life, accused killer has been named Canadian newsmaker of the year. Like many people, I'm sure, I find this a regrettable development. 

Luka Rocco Magnotta, dubbed  "Canadian Psycho" for his alleged murder and dismemberment of university student Jun Lin, was voted to be the most newsmaking figure in not one, but two surveys of editors and news directors around the country. 

Canadian Press and the QMI agency announced the results of their surveys in recent days. With no offence intended to the editors who made that judgment (hey, this is journalism, not politics, we're allowed to question judgment up the chain), I wish they had  arrived at a different result. 

No question -- Magnotta did generate a lot of news last June, and the crime story also briefly leaped into the political-news category when gruesome packages were sent to two Canadian political parties. But I can't shake the sense that this is somehow a reward for the worst kind of public infamy; precisely the type of attention that deranged individuals seek. It's the kind of story that deserves to be filed away and forgotten, just like the person who perpetrates the crime. 

The one-big-story, media-pile-on phenomenon is a staple of modern journalism. I'm referring here to the media's tendency to pour huge resources into one big story (roving, rolling targets of our collective interest) to the exclusion of others.  A journalism-prof friend of mine traces it to the death of Princess Diana in the late 1990s. You know the drill by now -- something large happens, we give it an Important Title, and the multiple stories flow, including, of course, Your Reaction to such-and-such. A week or so later, it's forgotten, in favour of the Next Big Story. 

I don't want to be too dismissive of this saturation-style coverage. Sometimes it is true that we need to read a lot of stories about one thing, for many days at a time. September 11, 2001 leaps to mind. 

And more recently, I've been starting to notice the stirrings of something positive in the midst of mercurial, mass-media attention. People are starting to remark on the need to channel that temporary, collective interest into a permanent, concrete result. It's not enough, in other words, to proclaim that  "a nation grieves" or "a nation looks in horror" and then, only days later, drop the subject altogether. 

You see this happening, for instance, in the aftermath of the Newtown shootings in Connecticut. Like the Magnotta case, it was a horrible tragedy generated by one, clearly deranged person -- a crime without a motive, a senseless disaster. But the mass attention to this school massacre has been accompanied by a lot of talk of what we do to make sure our attention to this issue isn't fleeting or temporary. Much commentary has focused on whether Newtown marks a turning point -- whether this is the gun tragedy that will finally make the United States get serious about firearms control. 

That in itself is not new: the shooting at L'Ecole Polytechnique in 1989 galvanized gun-control efforts in Canada for a decade or so. What's new in the Connecticut aftermath, it seems to me, is the pointed mention of mass attention-deficit disorder that accompanies the mass coverage. 

Relatedly, I think that's why you saw people (including me) express so much frustration when President Obama held the post-Newtown press conference, only to be flooded with political-process, fiscal-cliff questions from the assembled White House reporters. "Hey," people seemed to be saying, "we're not done with this yet." 

In short, I'm hoping  we're starting to pay attention to the attention --  how big stories suddenly get small, and how we can sort which developments deserve our lingering interest. 

That brings me back to Magnotta. It's left us with lasting images, but few lingering insights.  We peered (those of us with strong stomachs) into his sad, grisly world, but  it wasn't a story that made us look into our own.  On that score, the Ikea monkey did a better job: it at least  generated some discussion about the relationship between humans and pets and laws around exotic animals. 

My objections to Magnotta as newsmaker aren't personal -- I recognize that egregious people make news and being a "newsmaker" isn't necessarily a reward for good behaviour. But it seems to me that the biggest news of the year should somehow revolve around societal  insights, not mere infamy. 

Comments

[Old Fred]

Thank you for this article. I hope that the Canadian Press and QMI read it. I agree totally that killers of this type need to be reported, but that has been done. After that, the less we reward twisted egos with the opportunity to see themselves in the media, the better.

And I agree with your insight about what makes a news story of the year; a story which gets people talking and discussing what is happening in the world and where things are going right and where they are going wrong. People tend to rush around in their busy days never giving thought to big issues which ultimately affect everyone. A story which makes people pause and think about those issues really are 'stories of the year'.

[Jim Johnston]

I agree with your assessment, Susan.

I think the criteria for best news maker should be the person who did the most to move society in the directions it needs to go in to achieve long term success .. peace, prosperity, good governance and sustainability.

[Kris]

Thank-you for posting this blog. I am in complete agreement that the choice by the press for "Newsmaker of the Year" is completely irresponsible and does nothing else but condone the reasoning that engaging in serious crime will be rewarded by infamy. The Canadian Press should seriously consider reviewing it's voting panel on this topic as the current voting alumni are causing a factor in the problem rather than helping reduce it.

[lc]

Our Canadian media needs to smarten-up and stop focusing their energies on the horrible aspects that exist in society - they are the ones who add the gory and grisly details and sensationalize sick individuals like this...

Society (and our media) needs to get better at recognizing the people (and groups) who positively contribute and do wonderful things. Treat these people with the banner headlines and day after day coverage...showcase the truly great people so that society has wonderful role-models...

....and then see to it that these role-models become our newsmakers of the year!

[C. Wainio]

A particularly shocking decision from "Canada's most trusted news source". #Trusted no more

[aongasha]

The Canadian Media - so much expected
So little received.
Gotcha! Journalism and the Scandal -A-Day school of thought reign supreme

[MCBellecourt]

Thank you for this article, Ms Delacourt. I, too, am in complete agreement with your assessment here. It's as if too many journalists treat the day's news like a move in a video game and not like the real-world tragedies and triumphs the stories are meant to depict.

The choosing of Magnotta for NewsMaker Of The Year is an offensive, tacky move on the part of the CP and QMI, but too many of us are, quite frankly, not that surprised any more. I've known many old-school journalists who would be sickened, as much as I am, by the state of journalism today.

That said, I wish you and yours the very best this Christmas, and a healthy and happy 2013--and, thanks again for all you do.

[Eric]

Luca thanks you for this wonderful Christmas gift.

[Daniel Labbe]

On the contrary Susan, I think the selection of Magnotta does provide us with some interesting societal insights, but not those intended by the news editors who selected him. The choice provides interesting insights into the priorities of the leaders of the Canadian fourth estate. The Magnotta story was no doubt an attention grabber that likely drove huge spike in readership.

Looking back through the history of the “Canadian Newsmaker of the Year” process, the winners tended to be politicians with very few exceptions. Only one previous selectee was a criminal. Since 2010, two out of three newsmakers of the year have been sex and murder stories. Is it a coincidence that The Canadian Press became a for-profit entity in 2010?

[Mona]

I applaud your article. Thank goodness someone has spoken out. If this is the best Canada has to offer I am ashamed as should we all be. This is so shameful that 'the media' would name this monster when there must be some people in Canada that did something wonderful.
SHAME! SHAME! SHAME! ON THE MEDIA!

[Pat Truelove]

Susan, please tell you're aware of the irony, when you write a piece bemoaning the power of infamy, while simultaneously contributing to it.

[Jon]

The irony is that the kind of person we would all like to see be named "newsmaker of the year" is not the type of person who gets the coverage. The mainstream media market in Canada - including the Star - follows the "if it bleeds it leads" news paradigm. Very hypocritical of a journalist to object to this lowlife sub-human being given this title especially when it is the very media who give the coverage to the depraved people like this who hit the headlines. How about the Cop or Cops who caught him? Nary a mention in the news. Meanwhile the scores of people who do good things get ignored by media because "good news is no news".

[David Koch]

Other headlines from Toronto Star:

"NY fire shooting: Killer left chilling note"
"Luka Rocco Magnotta chosen as 2012's Newsmaker of the Year"

(pictures of killers included in stories)

Good way to inspire copycat killers who want to die famous, which in turn helps feed media with more top stories.

[James Clancy]

Susan, thank you for your interest in American affairs but no thanks....We have enough interlopers that think they have the answer to a question that no one has asked......The American people will resolve this dilemma of insane people committing insane acts of horror without the assistance of, as we like to call them, left leaning freedom haters, trying to deny us the freedoms we fought and died for......Our Country was founded with the use of the gun, fighting off the very ideas that you think is right for us now.......