Murder in Alamogordo
by Ken Nicholson
We had another murder in Alamogordo yesterday. The Alamogordo Daily News covered the story with a photograph of the victim and another of a blood spattered suspect. The reaction of some people in Otero County was displeasure directed against ADN for printing the photos. The following is my reply:
Yes, it is unpleasant to view death and so much more pleasant to sweep reality under the carpet. The US media is all too happy to pander to our tender sensibilities by not publishing news that is “too real” and that could possibly spoil our appetite for shopping.
Imagine how outraged we would be if we had to digest daily photographs of the mangled bodies of women, children, and old men in Iraq. Then imagine the outrage at seeing our dead and mangled soldiers who are our neighbors, and our family. It would be much more difficult to maintain our complacency and gung ho support of all our imperial wars.
Occasionally the ADN does get it right. We are a violent society. We love war. We solve our problems with violence. We love the death penalty, and we had rather imprison people than help them. However, none of this will change unless we are outraged at all the violence and senseless loss of life and not the depiction thereof.
