PressEthic

Editors at the many media outlets that provide information decide how the news is framed on any given day. They pick the stories that appear in their newspapers or television reports, determine where and when they appear, and what story gets six inches and which one gets a whole page. On November 3, 2006 Malachi Ritscher set himself on fire in the middle of rush hour in Chicago in protest of the Iraq war. Unfortunately, no media listened and the story didn’t appear until November 26 after a reporter from an alternative, Chicago-based weekly put the pieces together on Ritscher’s suicide.

An Associated Press article that appeared on the Web site for Editor & Publisher, and picked up by media outlets nationwide, outlined the details.

According to the article, Ritscher’s suicide had a purpose. In a note he left, he said the following:

Here is the statement I want to make: if I am required to pay for your barbaric war, I choose not to live in your world. I refuse to finance the mass murder of innocent civilians, who did nothing to threaten our country," he wrote in his suicide note. "... If one death can atone for anything, in any small way, to say to the world: I apologize for what we have done to you, I am ashamed for the mayhem and turmoil caused by my country.

The suicide was violent and visual. Ritscher doused himself in gasoline and lit himself on fire during the morning rush hour. Don’t most people believe that the media, especially television outlets, jump on that type of story? But, they didn’t jump on this one. In fact, it took more than three weeks for the Associated Press’ story on the real reason for Ritscher’s suicide to appear.

What about this event didn’t the media want to cover? Was it timing? Did Election Day coverage take precedence? There always seem to be stories that deserve more coverage or any coverage at all, but this seems to be an example of editors missing the mark on a very important story.