Why was JonBenet's case so highly publicized?

[cynic]

The Christian show was in Hawaii. There was another where Patsy said what if we were murderers (or words to that effect). Not typical grieving parent television

Actually, it's JR who has a good little chuckle about murder.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaK2RstdQQw[/ame]

 

[eileenhawkeye]

L



The Christian show was in Hawaii. There was another where Patsy said what if we were murderers (or words to that effect). Not typical grieving parent television.

Eileenhawkeye, please check the media links in the "sticky" section on this board. There's a plethora of examples listed.

Uh, I just read "Media Links" thread and the only interviews mentioned were the Christian interview, The Early Show, 20/20, and National Inquirer (which I already mentioned). Can you tell me straight forward what Entertainment TV interviews (Like E! News, Entertainment Tonight, Inside Edition) the R's did? I'm not asking for a YT video; just specific names.

 

[joeskidbeck]

Thanks again cynic. I have to say that this particular interview sickens me more than any other. The R's may really think they can twist every word to suit their purpose, but REAL Christains know the difference in true repentance and disgusting rhetoric. This "pastor" should have told them they would be welcomed into his church AFTER they repented and justice was served for JonBenet.

ETA: Actually, the pastor should have told them that all murderers would be welcome in his church after they repented and justice was served. Not just in JonBenet's case, but all cases.

 

[DeeDee249]

p.s. same media phenonomen has just played out in the UK. Young attractive woman found dead on Christmas day. Joanna Yeates ( google for the landlord) The story ran and ran, the tabloids simply invented some of their facts to match their headlines.


.

They do the same thing here!

 

[BOESP]

Ppinnocent:innocent:

Uh, I just read "Media Links" thread and the only interviews mentioned were the Christian interview, The Early Show, 20/20, and National Inquirer (which I already mentioned). Can you tell me straight forward what Entertainment TV interviews (Like E! News, Entertainment Tonight, Inside Edition) the R's did? I'm not asking for a YT video; just specific names.

I consider the above to be in the entertainment category.

 

[eileenhawkeye]

Ppinnocent:innocent:

I consider the above to be in the entertainment category.

Well, then I have to disagree with you when you say that no other murdered children's parents do "Entertainment TV" because I have seen them on shows like 20/20 and The Early Show. 20/20 frequently focuses on murders and the victim's family will talk. And for the parents who haven't appear on those shows, I bet it was because they weren't asked, rather than because they rejected the request. Also, I'm just wondering if you consider Nancy Grace to be Entertainment TV since her show does involve gossip/rumors?

 

[joeskidbeck]

I may have gotten confused somewhere along the way. I don't recall the R's ever doing any of the "entertainment" shows such as E! News or Entertainment Tonight. To me, these are mostly Hollywood based gossip shows and I can certainly understand why they wouldn't have invited the Ramseys to be on. 20/20 and The Early Show are news or investigative journalism shows which probably would have loved to have the R's on because their daughter's murder is one of the biggest mysteries in the history of the US. I'm not aware of all the tv shows the R's were on and all I'm theorizing on their appearances is that they took the opportunities that were offered (and not all of them, for sure) to go before the public and plead their cause, which was their innocence.
As for LKL I believe he falls into the entertainment category because he interviews as many celebrities as he does people in the news. Nancy Grace does a LOT for the cause of missing and murdered children and I love her for it but she would be much more enjoyable if she would tone down her entertainment side. Of course this is all just my opinion but I don't believe anyone interviewed the Ramseys for entertainment. If so, someone needs to get their money back!

 

[eileenhawkeye]

I may have gotten confused somewhere along the way. I don't recall the R's ever doing any of the "entertainment" shows such as E! News or Entertainment Tonight. To me, these are mostly Hollywood based gossip shows and I can certainly understand why they wouldn't have invited the Ramseys to be on. 20/20 and The Early Show are news or investigative journalism shows which probably would have loved to have the R's on because their daughter's murder is one of the biggest mysteries in the history of the US. I'm not aware of all the tv shows the R's were on and all I'm theorizing on their appearances is that they took the opportunities that were offered (and not all of them, for sure) to go before the public and plead their cause, which was their innocence.
As for LKL I believe he falls into the entertainment category because he interviews as many celebrities as he does people in the news. Nancy Grace does a LOT for the cause of missing and murdered children and I love her for it but she would be much more enjoyable if she would tone down her entertainment side. Of course this is all just my opinion but I don't believe anyone interviewed the Ramseys for entertainment. If so, someone needs to get their money back!

I have seen JonBenet's case on Entertainment Tonight and Inside Edition. I don't think they would have asked J&P to be on their show; I think they just wanted to do a segment on it since it's so infamous that everyone already knows about it.

I looked at past episodes of 20/20 and they frequently talk about murder cases. I believe that when the R's were on the show, the entire episode was about JBR. Isn't it normal for the family of a murder victim to appear on a show about their relative?

I read that when JMK was arrested, he had over 500 interview requests. I'm sure it was similar for the R's in the late 1990s/early 2000s. I think their PR's team helped them to choose what interviews to do based on who would be most supportive, than saying, "Do every interview so you guys can be celebrities!" I don't know how many interviews they've done but I don't think it was that many when you consider how big the case was.

I also agree with you that NG's show does a lot for missing children. Without her show, so many cases that got national coverage because of it would only be in the local papers. I also bet that there are a lot of cases from the 80s and 90s that were briefly mentioned in the local papers but would have gotten national coverage on NG if her show had been around at the time.

 

[joeskidbeck]

I have seen JonBenet's case on Entertainment Tonight and Inside Edition. I don't think they would have asked J&P to be on their show; I think they just wanted to do a segment on it since it's so infamous that everyone already knows about it.

I looked at past episodes of 20/20 and they frequently talk about murder cases. I believe that when the R's were on the show, the entire episode was about JBR. Isn't it normal for the family of a murder victim to appear on a show about their relative?

I read that when JMK was arrested, he had over 500 interview requests. I'm sure it was similar for the R's in the late 1990s/early 2000s. I think their PR's team helped them to choose what interviews to do based on who would be most supportive, than saying, "Do every interview so you guys can be celebrities!" I don't know how many interviews they've done but I don't think it was that many when you consider how big the case was.

I agree with you that they didn't do a lot of tv interviews considering the number of times they had to have been asked and I don't believe they were trying to be celebrities at all. I just think they did use these tv appearances to convince the world of their innocence. You can never know when a possible jury member may be watching
I would love to see that episode of Inside Edition! Do you happen to remember who did the interview? I graduated high school with Deborah Norville and it would be great to get her opinion on the R's at the next reunion. I can remember when she only did serious news reporting but over the last few years IE has become the National Enquirer of television.

ETA: I don't care what DN's opinion of the Ramseys is unless she did the interview with them. I'd like to know what kind of "vibes" she got from them!

 

[eileenhawkeye]

Inside Edition had JonBenet's case on when JMK was arrested. John wasn't on the show; they just talked about the latest development. Also, if you do a search at their website, 26 articles come up about the case so if it's on their website, then I'm going to assume that it was mentioned on their show. I'm not sure if the R's were ever actually interviewed on Inside Edition; I think they just mentioned the case in a segment.

The only possibility I can think of regarding the R's trying to be celebrities would be if social butterfly Patsy liked being on National TV, whereas John, being more private, did not. Since John knew it wouldn't be safe for Patsy to do an interview by herself, he took charge along with the PR team to determine what interviews they would do. If John had been the one who died in June 2006, how many interviews would have Patsy done from then until now? I bet a lot more than John did.

I bet the shows who got interviews were the ones who called the R's PR team and were like, "We want the world to hear how the R's have been vilified by everyone. They need their innocent voices to be heard. Come on our show!" Even if everyone involved in the show thinks they are guilty, they'll do what they have to do for ratings.

 

[joeskidbeck]

Inside Edition had JonBenet's case on when JMK was arrested. John wasn't on the show; they just talked about the latest development. Also, if you do a search at their website, 26 articles come up about the case so if it's on their website, then I'm going to assume that it was mentioned on their show. I'm not sure if the R's were ever actually interviewed on Inside Edition; I think they just mentioned the case in a segment.

The only possibility I can think of regarding the R's trying to be celebrities would be if social butterfly Patsy liked being on National TV, whereas John, being more private, did not. Since John knew it wouldn't be safe for Patsy to do an interview by herself, he took charge along with the PR team to determine what interviews they would do. If John had been the one who died in June 2006, how many interviews would have Patsy done from then until now? I bet a lot more than John did.

I bet the shows who got interviews were the ones who called the R's PR team and were like, "We want the world to hear how the R's have been vilified by everyone. They need their innocent voices to be heard. Come on our show!" Even if everyone involved in the show thinks they are guilty, they'll do what they have to do for ratings.

eileen, I think you are absolutely right!

 

[cynic]

There is a book that explores this subject reasonably well.
Below is an excerpt from Mark Fuhrman’s book, The Murder Business.

A small number of these cases explode into national obsessions as a mass media feeding frenzy ensues over their stories. Typically, the victims are female. Without exception, they are white and very pretty. In a ghoulish moment, American Murder meets American Idol, as America chooses its prettiest corpse, onto whom our collective horror is projected.
It begins with a photograph that quickly becomes iconic in our culture, a name we adopt into our national conversation as if we were speaking of someone we all knew, JonBenet, Caylee, Stacy Peterson, Laci Peterson.

 

[eileenhawkeye]

There is a book that explores this subject reasonably well.
Below is an excerpt from Mark Fuhrman’s book, The Murder Business.

A small number of these cases explode into national obsessions as a mass media feeding frenzy ensues over their stories. Typically, the victims are female. Without exception, they are white and very pretty. In a ghoulish moment, American Murder meets American Idol, as America chooses its prettiest corpse, onto whom our collective horror is projected.
It begins with a photograph that quickly becomes iconic in our culture, a name we adopt into our national conversation as if we were speaking of someone we all knew, JonBenet, Caylee, Stacy Peterson, Laci Peterson.

There's no doubt in my mind that the media has made millions off of murder cases. It is a business. Whatever sells the most is what gets reported the most. However, maybe it's just me, but I always thought of Caylee's case as being mostly a local story, with the majority of national coverage coming from NG. I know it's in Europe, but I think that Madeleine McCann's case would be a better example since she got massive coverage over there and even some over here.

I do believe that if some parents of missing/murdered children who are being ignored by the media, did have a PR team or media consultants, then their child might get a bit more attention. There are plenty of cases I read about that are interesting and seem to be something the media would like but they are just reported by the local press, and I have to wonder if the parents not being media savvy or knowing what to do, negatively affects their child getting coverage.

 

[SunnieRN]

Actually, it's JR who has a good little chuckle about murder.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaK2RstdQQw

Thank you for this link!! I think the most important thing the pr team did, was to try and prevent moments like these from occurring. If you look at Johns face and body language, vs the Pastor who was having problems even forming/asking the question, you realize that this is most likely NOT where this interview was supposed to go.

The reaction and wording from this interview, has often been attributed to Patsy. It is very interesting to see that it was actually a quote from John. Thank you Cynic.

As for entertainment television. I don't believe the R's would have agreed to be on that type of show. I think the R's would have felt that the shows were 'beneath' them. They were projecting some pretty RDI information at the time.

The R's did just enough interviews to get their face and words into the public. Funny that they incriminated themselves at times, in the interviews they did do.

 

[SunnieRN]

One other thing. The pr team also knew that any interviews the R's did, could be used as evidence/testimony in court, that could be used against them. This was played out in Waco TX recently, when the Pastor who killed his wife was brought to trial. The interviews he had done for his interviews had varying stories, accounts of incidents and time lines. Very interesting as it added to the incriminating evidence against him.

 

[BOESP]

Well, then I have to disagree with you when you say that no other murdered children's parents do "Entertainment TV" because I have seen them on shows like 20/20 and The Early Show. 20/20 frequently focuses on murders and the victim's family will talk. And for the parents who haven't appear on those shows, I bet it was because they weren't asked, rather than because they rejected the request. Also, I'm just wondering if you consider Nancy Grace to be Entertainment TV since her show does involve gossip/rumors?

I didn't say "no other murdered children's parents." I also addressed the demeanor of the Ramseys compared to other parents of homicide victims since it is questionable whether or not JonBenet was murdered.

I consider most television programming to be entertainment.

 

[eileenhawkeye]

I didn't say "no other murdered children's parents." I also addressed the demeanor of the Ramseys compared to other parents of homicide victims since it is questionable whether or not JonBenet was murdered.

I consider most television programming to be entertainment.

Your message said:

I don't recall seeing many (if any) other parents of child homicide victims appearing on television except, mainly, for news casts. The Ramsey's did several programs for what I call entertainment television.

I read your post to mean that you've only seen parents of murdered children on newscasts, like press conferences, and the only parents of murdered children who've seen on Entertainment TV, like The Early Show and 20/20, were the Ramseys. Most parents of murdered children would be on those shows in a heartbeat to get their child's case some publicity.

I think it is possible that Entertainment Tonight or Inside Edition did ask the R's to be on their show. JBR's case is covered on those shows so I don't think it's too far fetched to think that they called up John when JMK was arrested and requested an interview. It wouldn't hurt to ask. Since this case was very highly publicized, the R's pretty much had the choice about what interviews they wanted to do. Their PR team probably advised them to not take interviews on shows that focus mostly on celebrities because people might see it as the Ramseys trying to be celebrities.

I wouldn't be surprised if Anderson Cooper 360, E's 20 Most Shocking Unsolved Crimes, and Haunting Evidence had all asked John to be on the show but he said, "No" for whatever reason.

 

[BBB167893]

ETA: I don't care what DN's opinion of the Ramseys is unless she did the interview with them. I'd like to know what kind of "vibes" she got from them!

Beck, if you DO see her, give her a message from me! She did do an interview with them, and to be brutally honest, if anyone s**ked my *advertiser censored** that hard, my head would collapse like Dietrich when he saw the Ark of the Covenant!

 

[joeskidbeck]

Beck, if you DO see her, give her a message from me! She did do an interview with them, and to be brutally honest, if anyone s**ked my *advertiser censored** that hard, my head would collapse like Dietrich when he saw the Ark of the Covenant!

I will ask her, Dave, but in the meantime, why don't you tell us what you really think? :floorlaugh:

 

[BOESP]

Your message said:

I read your post to mean that you've only seen parents of murdered children on newscasts, like press conferences, and the only parents of murdered children who've seen on Entertainment TV, like The Early Show and 20/20, were the Ramseys. Most parents of murdered children would be on those shows in a heartbeat to get their child's case some publicity.

I think it is possible that Entertainment Tonight or Inside Edition did ask the R's to be on their show. JBR's case is covered on those shows so I don't think it's too far fetched to think that they called up John when JMK was arrested and requested an interview. It wouldn't hurt to ask. Since this case was very highly publicized, the R's pretty much had the choice about what interviews they wanted to do. Their PR team probably advised them to not take interviews on shows that focus mostly on celebrities because people might see it as the Ramseys trying to be celebrities.

I wouldn't be surprised if Anderson Cooper 360, E's 20 Most Shocking Unsolved Crimbes, and Haunting Evidence had all asked John to be on the show but he said, "No" for whatever reason.

I'm not so sure JonBenet was murdered but she definitely was a homicide victim.

I can't see John Ramsey being the TV hound that Patsy seemed to be. She seemed to like publicity and performing.