Why has this case has so much attention? - The Perfect Husband: The Laci Peterson Story (2004) Discussion

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] MacFlux 19 years ago

I don't get what's so special about this case. I have heard worse stories than this that only get a short column in the newspaper.

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] Purple_Rose 19 years ago

This case has had such an amount of attention because it's not everyday that an 8 months pregnant woman goes missing. Her family also contacted the media, yes, so they could get the message out in hopes that they would find Laci(And later on the killer). A reporter from the tabloids must have noticed this and knew it would be a great big story. And it was! People felt sorrow and tried to feel what Laci's family was feeling. A simple news report led to newspaper headlines, which led to commercials and posters, and telethons to try to find Laci. When they found her it became an even bigger story. To find the killer, since they had eventually found the bodies of Laci and Connor, that called for more media, more attention.

she suffers so unwillingly...

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] mamatigger212 19 years ago

Having been raised in the California Central Valley, so close to Modesto, I can provide a little insight to the mentality of the area. Modesto is a very small town, a very tight community. In towns like that, everyone knows everyone's business, so if they had any reason to believe that the killer was from outside the community the only way they could find out anything was to get the information out to the public. Obviously, at the beginning, the Rocha family stood behind Scott and believed him to be innocent, so getting the story out to the media was the only means they had to find Laci and Conner's killer.

Also, as previously stated, Laci was eight months pregnant with a legitimate child. Every pregnant woman believes she is safe because of the child she carries, what kind of sicko would knowingly kill a pregnant woman. I gave birth to my son just a few weeks before Laci and Conner were murdered, and I never thought I had to worry about someone coming after me since I was carrying an innocent child. Now, every pregnant woman out there has to watch her back just as she would if she wasn't with child. Scary.

I just thank God for the guilty verdict, the jury knew the truth.

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[–] blackmoon-2 18 years ago

Modesto ain't that small. I have family there and they didn't know anything that wasn't on the news.

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[–] nieder27 19 years ago

Are you kidding? The Jon Benet Ramsey case is still very well remembered. All you have to do is turn on your TV. E! and court tv etc etc always have specials on about it.

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] trees345 19 years ago

OH YEAH! there was another case that was really big but i cant' think of the name of who it was.... oh yea it was o.j. simpson! lol

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] symph0natic 18 years ago

It's easy: this case got so much attention because Scott Peterson is rich and white, with movie-star looks to boot. If this were a poor black family, the story would have been on local news only, and then maybe for only 2 or 3 days at most.

It's the sad, cold, hard truth...the sooner you realize it, the better.

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[–] anacostabrazil 18 years ago

So true. Which means, that a poor black man can kill his wife and get away with it because the media won't be interested in the story.

But being a white family called attention of the networks. They knew they would get high ratings. I live in BRAZIL and I SAW FOX NEWS reporting the case from day one. It was obvious to me they were coloring every information (or lack of) they gave. It was so obvious they were only thinkin about ratings. The ratings were probably pretty low being that it was Xmas Eve, so way not do some dramatic soap opera headlines ? They got the ratings they wanted (hell, even people in BRAZIL where watching LIVE!).

It's IMPOSSIBLE to be FAIR in a situation like this.
The power TELEVISION has to convince people is outstanding.
Scott never stood a chance once the media realized he woulde make good ratings.
Sad society that lives through television shows.

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[–] metallicahp66 18 years ago

Perhaps you've never heard of the name O.J. Simpson. Had Scott been a rich black man, then he could have hired a Johnny Cochran-esque defense and they could have pulled the 'race card' to justify a miscollection of forensic evidence.

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[–] Ampstersand 18 years ago

There are 2 reasons you could argue that the case has recieved so much attention.

1) It was a major case involving a fetus. If he's convicted of it's murder, that changes the definition if "it". This has huge ramifications towards many aspects of American law. And a murder of this level of depravity is rare in the US.

But that's all a load of crap.

2) 1 reporter writes a story, or 1 news team covers a story, and it grows and evolves like any other organism. This happens all the time. There's at least one big news story like this that people can argue about near the water cooler. It starts locally. If they pick it up and run with it, it's just one step to national coverage. Once one of the major syndicates runs with it, the rest tend to not to be able to ignore it.

I believe the Michael Jackson story was dying around this point. And it was around Christmas, so the only other stories are boring old business crap and religious stuff.

This story was easy for the media to sink their teeth into. A pregnant woman disappears. No big deal. But she's from an affluent family. The media assumes someone in the family did it, as they almost always do. Her husband acts guilty. The killer looks pretty good. Not some raving unwashed psychopath. Her family gets on the news to talk about the case. Oh! An affair? And she's a hot blonde. STOP THE PRESSES!

If you want to understand the American media, I remember a story about a woman kidnapped in Iraq during the first phase of the war. She was black, and kinda fat. Not very attractive. It was an okay story though I suppose. But suddenly, an attractive white woman gets kidnapped and we never hear about the fat black woman anymore. The media has found their angel. The angel gets a settlement, a book deal and a movie of the week. Thousands can die and no one cares, but we need constant updates of this new media darling.

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] hunterroch 17 years ago

"Three words. "White woman syndrome" of today's media."

Laci Peterson was Hispanic (or atleast half). Her maiden name was ROCHA a hispanic surname. Hispanic just like Mexican-American singer Zack De La Rocha.

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[–] 17 years ago

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