Commentary to Chris Newton-John story

[Hazumu]

I want to bring up an overlooked aspect of this story.

Yes, it was a horrific torture-murder.  Yes, Ms. Newton-John should be punished by society for killing her husband.

But has anybody notices the news coverage?

Many sources focus on the transsexual aspect of the perpetrator, rubbing the reader/viewer's eyes in it, as it were.

Here is an article at the HuffPost that puts that fact FAR down the journalistic inverted pyramid, making it the minor fact of the case it should be:

Christine Newton-John, Ohio Woman, Pleads Guilty To Exercising Her Husband To Death

CHARDON, Ohio — A woman has pleaded guilty to reckless homicide for exercising her 73-year-old husband to death in a swimming pool, repeatedly refusing to let him leave the water.

Surveillance video showed Christine Newton-John, 41, pulling James Mason around the pool by his arms and legs, said Middlefield police Chief Joseph Stehlik

The chief said he counted 43 times in which Newton-John prevented her husband from leaving the water, and Mason rested his head on the side of the pool several times while gasping for breath.

"The video is bone-chilling," Stehlik said. "The whole case is very sinister."

Isn't THIS the way stories involving persons who are transgender should be reported?  Without sensationalizing the fact the person is TG or TS?  I'm going to thank the Huffington Post for doing the right thing.  Anybody care to join me?

Karen

[mina.magpie]

Agreed. I used them as a reference in a blog post I did that referred to Taysia Elzy and her boyfriend's murder last year. They're coverage of the story and the subsequent nastiness around Taysia's gender identity was really on the level, IMO. They're quickly becoming one of my main news stops in the morning, right along with Alternet and Infoshop.

Mina.