Scott Peterson's former mistress, Amber Frye, is releasing a book this week and will be plastered all over your television while she promotes it. Scott Peterson, meanwhile, will be formally sentenced on February 25 for the murder of his wife Laci and their unborn child.
Why do I know these names? How is it that the trial of Scott Peterson became an international news story? I understood the interest in OJ Simpson's court case because he was a famous celebrity. Hell, the man once ran for 2000 yards in a season for the Bills and he had a big roll in The Naked Gun. People knew him, but nobody knew Scott Peterson before he murdered his wife. Scott and Laci Peterson were unknowns in Modesto, California, so how did this story become more than a localized California tragedy?
Lets face it, this story became extremely popular because Scott and Laci Peterson were attractive white people. The media eats attractive white people for breakfast. A few days after the tsunami disaster last week, I read a cover story on CNN.com about a little Swedish boy who may have lost his parents in the tsunami. It was a sad story and this little boy's picture was plastered on the front page, a symbol of the devestation. This boy, of course, was blond and blue eyed...unlike 99% of the children suffering in south east Asia.
Like Scott Peterson, men kill their pregnant wives on a fairly regular basis throughout the United States. These incidents are always sad and receive significant coverage in their locality, but never has it dominated the news like this. Here in Toronto, I shouldn't know the name Amber Frye, but I do. Mass media is sickeningly superficial and style outrates substance every time.
