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After wondering about the intense (some might say excessive) coverage of Nicole duFresne's murder on the Lower East Side - and being party to it - Gothamist is glad that the Village Voice Jarrett Murphy investigated the local reporting on it. Murphy's article, "A Murder Made For the Front Page," looks at how the NY Times, Daily News, and Newsday covered the story, amid questions whether it became a race story (white woman killed by black teen). Of course, the papers say this story would have been covered no matter what race the victim was, given that the murder happened in an "interesting neighborhood" and had the "aspiring-success" angle. However, how readers perceive the information is another issue, and Murphy makes a point of saying that the racial dynamic should have been addressed.
Also interesting about the reporting in the duFresne murder: Reporters weren't sure if duFresne's website was hers.
But did the website belong to the right Nicole duFresne? At Newsday, metro editor Diane Davis's staff found four women with that name, and one reporter actually called a living one's relative. Over at the Times, [Michael] Wilson—not knowing if he had found the right Nicole—left a message on the victim's cell phone, then called a second number listed on her website. A short time later, Jeffrey Sparks called him back and confirmed that Wilson had found the right duFresne. Wilson asked Sparks how he'd heard about the crime.Gothamist was fascinated with the story because it's a neighborhood we are frequently in - not to mention a neighborhood whose crime rate had fallen. And then the police's quick investigative work leading to the arrests helped keep the story front of mind. What's your take?"She died in my arms," Sparks, the fiancé, said. Suddenly, Wilson had the victim's life story and an eyewitness in hand.
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I'm sorry but, maybe I'm getting old for this but, there was a time when, if it had been a black woman --even a good looking black woman-- the media would not have covered it in the same way.
I am not so sure we have left that time behind.
My take is that this whole this is tiresome. Give it two months until the Law and Order episode comes out and put the damn thing to bed. Blargh.
You're being overly cynical, Liza. The only reason why this was covered at all was because of what duFresne said, which basically provoked the mugger to kill her. It has nothing to do with being white or pretty or an actress. It has to do with stupidity. DuFresne should be awarded the Darwin Prize for taking herself out of the gene pool before she could reproduce.
Well, to be fair, I think it'd be similarly outrageous if a white male killed a black actress.
The thing with media coverage is it's all arbitrary. For example, I'm sure the Central Park Jogger was not the only woman who was raped, beaten within an inch of her life, and left for dead in NYC. I actually remember a few more cases of that... anyway, she just happened to be the standout example. It had nothing to do with the race of the victim or assailants - not only are we not even sure who did it, but the identity of the jogger was withheld for many years (as is customary for rape victims by media outlets). I think this is much the same - this got a TON of coverage, even more coverage than several other "white mid-20's person gets killed in gentrifying area" incidents.
I think that the beauty of the victim does have a lot to do with the media coverage. For some reason, beautiful victims of violent crime cause deeper reactions in readers and viewers. The newspapers are just going along with that aspect of human nature - they know that's what will sell papers and keep ratings high. It's not ethically suspect, even if it is rather shallow of them.
Was anyone else bothered by the fact that Nicole was continually refered to as "beauty?" Since when does that matter??? Obviously this story was covered so much because she was an attractive white woman.
No comment will be posted here that hasn't already been posted a thousand times about this murder. No comment will be posted here that hasn't already been posted a thousand times about this murder. No comment will be posted here that hasn't already been posted a thousand times about this murder. No comment will be posted here that hasn't already been posted a thousand times about this....[school bell rings, grabs skateboard]
Maybe I'm being 'overly cynical' as well, but I really can't imagine the same kind of press being given to this story if Nicole were a black woman, even if she were still a "beauty" and an actress.
Funny. Seven comments and no one has yet discussed the Voice piece. Instead, this thread so far is just rehashing the same arguments. I guess if you already "know" why reporters and editors chose to cover this story, you don't need to read an article about why reporters and editors chose to cover this story.
I think a lot of the coverage is most certainly based on the fact the the victim was white, a beautiful actress, and stood up for herself. Granted it was an unfortunate mistake on her part. But to call her action stupid is ignorant; she may have had a stressful day or was just plain fed up. However, if the victim was a woman of color, and she was killed by "one of her own", this would not have made the front pages, nor would it have received continuous coverage.
Sheesh. Almost everyone looks beautiful in their headshots. That's the point of headshots. This is just lucky for all the photo depts involved...they knew that they'd at least have a striking image to run over and over and over and over again.
I would bet that if a very pretty middle-class Asian girl was murdered by a black gang youth, it would get the same amount of overblown attention.
Maybe we don't see a lot of news about black people getting murdered because innocent middle class black people often don't get murdered randomly in a seemingly safe area of town. If a criminal or gangster is murdered, the news is buried. If a poor person of any color gets murdered, the news is buried. If someone gets randomly shot in a bad section of town, it's no surprise and the news is buried. None of that is surprising to me.
Do any of you who are claiming that there "wouldn't be as much coverage" if the victim wasn't white actually have any facts or statistics to back up your claims? Repeating the same tired assertions doesn't make them true.
This last guy/gal wants footnotes to back up an assertion that is just common American sense. Anyone who denies it is living in a fantasy world.
If Ms. DuFrense were an aspiring black actress, the headline would have been "shooting in les: details on page 25..." and that would have been it. I don't even know if they would have caught the cretins.
That's the way it is.
http://ip.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/8/2/121#SEC2
try this link. i didn't read the whole thing ut it discusses the issue of coverage of homocides by vistim's race, among other things. has some stats, too.
Outside of the argument over the press covereage about the murder, why is she constantly called an actress? I thought she made her money as a bartender or something. Doesn't that make her a bartender. One isn't a politician because he/she works at McDonald's but aspires to get elected.
Just read the Voice piece. Interesting... his point seems to be not that the story was covered because the victim is white, or pretty, or pretty and white, but that the story should have been more up front about the racial angle, instead of shying away from it.
It's a good point. Here we are speculating about something we all suspect is true, and yet why won't the people who actually covered the story acknowledge that this was one factor that made the story interesting?
His point that black-on-white crime is much rarer than people think, and that an opportunity to air that fact, is well taken as well.
Maybe many people of one race think that many people of another race hate them for being that race and are out to get them and this just proves it and the story takes on legs of its own feeding that fear.
Wow, did you study at the George W. Bush School of Denial & Blanket Discrediting?
Not sure what is so hard to understand – people get upset when someone beautiful, famous, successful, hardworking, etc. is murdered. Gang violence, inner-city violence, etc just isn't that remarkable because it is so commonplace. Does anyone really care if too hill-billies kill each other over methamphetamines? Of course not. This may not be politically correct - but unfortunately it's the truth
I thought alot about the factors in the case that led the national media to cover this tragedy. In May of 2003 a friend of mine was shot and killed in Chicago and it was only mildly covered here. He was also an aspiring actor. The similarity ends there though.
- My friend said nothing to his attackers. They just pulled out a pistol and shot him at close range, for no reason at all, as they were passing him on the sidewalk.
- It happened in a nice neighborhood by Chicago standards.
- The killers are still loose, despite a publicized reward. People out there most likely know who they are, but they just don't care.
In a way, my friend's story is more terrifying because there was no reason for what happened. The guys just shot him and ran off. It wasn't a robbery. No argument took place. We'll probably never know why it happened.
I think Nicole's case got national attention for a variety of reasons; the main one being what she said to the guy who killed her. It's ironic, so the media jumped all over it. Also, New York's crime rate has dropped significantly over the past decade. A morbid story about a pretty, young promising girl getting shot on the lower east side has "if it bleeds it leads" written all over it. Finally, they caught the idiots responsible right away. Into, build-up, climax and conclusion are all wrapped up nicely for the news to exploit at whim.
My sympathies go out to Nicole's family. In their case, the criminals have been rounded up, so all they probably want to do now is learn to be at peace with the fact that she is gone over something so pointless. The attention her death is getting won't help them in any way. Especially while excrement like "Debbie" (near the top of this thread) see fit to chime in about how Nicole, an innocent murder victim, deserves a Darwin prize.
I guess as long as we're all willing to blame each other for getting shot by thugs, we'll continue to be shot by thugs.
I think the really disturbing thing about the coverage is her fiances constant availability to the press, his lead in the bizarre memorial service, and the constant snuggling in front of cameras with her supposed best friend. What a strange, strange way to grieve - turn into a media whore.
I'm glad to see that someone has FINALLY addressed the racially motivating issues in this story. I'm sad to say that people die on a regular basis, but only when a black kid kills a pretty white woman will newspapers get whipped into a fury and start throwing around words like "savage". And to claim that you guys covered it to the degree that you did b'c you like the neighborhood is self-delusion.
Now let's get back to the business of anticipating "The Gates".
I second Nicole's nomination for the Darwin Award. What are you going to do? Shoot me?
The Lower East Side is an 'interesting' neighborhood, which is why everyone covered this story so intensely (and Gothamist linked so enthusiastically to everyone's coverage)?
Bullshit!
Every neighborhood in NYC is 'interesting' in some way -- isn't that why publications like the Times seem to focus on every one of them in endless cycles with "24 hours in.." format pieces -- i'm sure you could find a few reasons to describe Morrisania or East New York 'interesting.'
Meh. Here it's just nice code for 'nabe where the young white educated trying-to-make-it-here-to-prove-they-can-make-it-anywhere crowd like to hang out and - if backed with enough trustafarian cash - live.'
'Tis just not very sly code, alas.
ENOUGH!!
the nymetro has a pretty cool retrospective on clinton st. check for yourselves:
http://www.nymetro.com/nymetro/news/people/columns/intelligencer/11024/index.html
Everyone seems to agree that if this were a black woman killed the media could really care two hoots. Interesting. So tell me, when was the last time a white thug murdered a middle class black woman during a botched mugging? I'm just saying...
Wow! I'm sure all the white murder victims care a lot about the racial aspect of the media coverage of their death. In the afterlife, they're undoubtedly arguing that they were more deserving of media attention because they were white. "I was better than everybody!" they proclaim.
I can only assume this is happening. It would explain why some of the truly illuminated souls in this forum are trivializing one particular victim's death, mocking her, joking about her real or made-up trust funds, saying she was deserving of death, etc.
I'm sure when you cross paths with a criminal of any color of the rainbow, he will stop and recognize your cynical, cold and ignorant disposition, slap you on the back and wish you a good evening.
I'd like to remind you that violence is part of the human condition. I'm not saying the kids shouldn't be punished. I'm just saying that statements like: "...as long as we blame each other..." are ridiculously meaningless. We've been hurting each other since we got opposable thumbs. Before guns, we clubbed each other.
My point is that stuff like this gets so much coverage because it destroys people's fantasies of invulnerability and fairness. Peace and justice are goals that you strive for but are not guaranteed. That's why you have to use your time as well as you can. People (adults even) apparently do need the newsflash that death can be meaningless and unfair.
Hey you all! Wake up! If you really want to know the TRUTH, than all you have todo is look at the numbers.
DuFresne was murdered, but another man was also robbed and killed on the same night. 6 other people from all around the 5 boroughs have been mugged and killed, 1 week AFTER DuFresne, yet she still gets coverage.
The difference between DuFresne and these other 7 victims within the same week? Let's do some deductive analysis here..... hmm... oh right! DuFresne is WHITE! While the other 7 are not!
The 'interesting neighborhood'-'aspiring success' theory doesn't hold true, it is merely a guise to justify subconscious bigotry.
And to answer someone who posted earlier: "If a middle-class pretty asian girl got murdered by a black gang, she would get coverage." Ha! I challenge you on that one! Do you think pretty asian girls don't get murdered? When was the LAST TIME you saw coverage about an Asian girl being murdered? WHEN?
Bottom Line: If you ain't white, pretty, young, "aspiring-something", than you can kiss post-mortem fame goodbye.
All of these comments are giving us so much insight (because we never heard them before)!
Hey "a", yes people have said it was a race related in the past. I definitely have said this in this case and in others. But the reason it's interesting now is that outside of the blog-world circle-jerk, others--such as the Village Voice--are saying it like it is. The outside world is at least acknowledging that race plays an issue.
I've talked about how anyone can check Police blotters on any given day and find out about crimes that are equally heinous. Sadly, the victims are not white at all. Heck, go and sit in night court or criminal court and watch the parade of perps and victims.
Anyone who thinks the coverage of Nicole's death is not based on race is simply dellusional. Thankfully other real journalists and people with clear heads are calling this stuff for what it is.
Joe, regarding this statement:
"Everyone seems to agree that if this were a black woman killed the media could really care two hoots. Interesting. So tell me, when was the last time a white thug murdered a middle class black woman during a botched mugging? I'm just saying..."
Watch any episode of C.O.P.S. to see non-black scumbags doing nasty stuff. And specific to New York (Nassau Countty), what about the white couple--male/female--who robbed a whole pile of banks, murdered 3 people in the process and are now waiting arraignment? Or does white trash not count?
The final word is that America and NYC care more about a 'pretty white girl," who stood up for herself, getting murdered, then someone who was boring and of a different race. Everyone just needs to accept that and move on. I dont think you can read into it much more.
America is still a white nation despite a large miority population. Thats the facts...
So david333, by your reasoning even if America were a white nation, why does that justify Nicoles coverage over others?
You can use the term 'stood up for herself' but i'm going to use the term 'challenged the mugger (who was wielding a pistol).'
Also you mention that NYC cares more about a 'pretty white girl' who stood up for herself..etc etc. than a boring non-white. How do YOU know if the other 7 victims that were killed within the same week were boring? How? The news? Ha!
This is not to detract from the unfortunate event or disrespect DuFresne's death.. but it's not hard to be more interesting than someone who works in the service industry and is an aspiring actor. I work in the service industry with these idiots. I know.
As the NY Press put it, there were six other gunshot fatalities the week of her murder. How many of those people got newspaper coverage? That's right, zero. And, oh yeah, they were black and latino. That's just the way it goes.
If anyone doubts racial bias in the media, just look at the tsunami victims -- brown and black victims were generally treated as unnamed masses, but the few western victims (Swedish, British, American, for example) were named, had individual photographs, had photos and interviews with the families, etc.
http://nypress.com/18/6/pagetwo/newshole2.cfm
You are all so busy complaining that journalists are racists for turning the Dufrense murder into sensationalist headlines, you forget to mention that not one of you could give two sh*ts in a Turkish toilet about a black or latino person getting mugged and killed.
These hacks are, after all, appealing to YOU, not to some fictitious white-supremacist Archie Bunker silent majority in the greater metro area.
Six other people were murdered that night, but their deaths weren't given the same coverage that duFresne's was. How many of them were with their boyfriends/girlfriends at the time, who can now grieve in public in bizarre ceremonies, and make statements to the media?
It's funny how reasonable the coward Anon sounded until the very end. "As long as we blame each other for people shot by thugs, we'll continue to be shot by thugs"? Um? Did you ever hear of personal responsibility? After the Central Park Jogger rape women took the precaution not to go to the park early in the morning alone. There are tips that cops give on what to do if you are being mugged, and talking back to the guy isn't at the top of the list.
Clearly the mugger is also a murderer and deserves to go away for a long time. But that doesn't also mean that if duFresne had kept her mouth shut, this wouldn't have happened.
Finally, why did s/he put my name in quotation marks? Does s/he think it's an alias? Perhaps next time I should call myself "Captain Obvious" or "Anon."
You know, I have something TOTALLY new to say. If she hadn't been WHITE, this story wouldn't have been BIG! IF she had been POOR and/or BLACK, no one would have cared. Oh wait, actually, no, I lied. It still would have been a big story if she were POOR and WHITE because, in the end, the media clearly doesn't care for RICH BLACK PEOPLE, oops, I meant POOR BLACK PEOPLE. I myself am a STRUGGLING ARTIST type, living in RED HOOK, VASSAR ALUM.
Debbie,
I'm a coward for what? Not posting my first name? You're saying if she'd kept her mouth shut, she'd be alive. You're probably right. But I still think you're an asshole. Work late, have a few drinks, and get robbed sometime. Preferrably with your significant other. Maybe the robbers will be a bunch of teenagers, some of whom beat the crap out of your significant other, while another apologizes. Maybe you had a rough week and it culminates in this. See how you react. If you live, get back to us. Relate for us on your demeanor, and how capable you were of rational thought. I've had a gun stuck in my face. I know how it feels to be powerless and terrified while some shitbag kid determines whether you'll live or die. I gave up my wallet and looked at the ground and he walked away. But I don't see why that experience would entitle me to get online and tell everyone how stupid a murder victim is and say that she deserved to die. That's what you are doing. It makes you an asshole.
Over and out. I'm done. I hope you and everyone you love lives a long and healthy life. Getting murdered sucks.
Uhh.. hello, we're not really debating the tradegy of DuFresne's murder.
We are criticizing the media for it's selective journalism, much as Gothamist does.
But let me ask you this Anon: If a mugger were to approach you, pistol whip your boyfriend/girlfriend in the face and than demand your money, would you say "what are you gonna do, shoot me?"
You probably wouldn't even if someone were to pay you.
There are things you say and don't say. DuFresne unfortunately said the wrong thing.
So we are wondering, why did DuFresne receive so much coverage as opposed to other murder victims? Would you like it if you were murdered and no-one gave a shit about it, but if your neighbor got murdered than the media pursues the story with the same vigor as it pursues Micheal Jackson?
Here's my snarky encapsulation of why I think this story has been covered this much: Not many other murders come with their own catchphrases.
Debbie, look at the forest and not the trees. When Sarah Fox went missing and then was found dead, there were no catchphrases either. That's simply a fact. The same holds true for other crime cases.
If you're white regardless if you are rich, poor, talented or lame you will automatically get more coverage than a non-white person. Plain as day.
It's shocking when a white person dies. It's not so shocking when a non-white person dies. I mean (*sarcasm on*) they are all animals and they just kill themselves, right?
Who's Sarah Fox?
Actually, Captain Obvious, the media loves catchphrases. "If the glove doesn't fit, you must acquit," "I did not have sex with that woman," etc.
Debbie, type "Sarah Fox" into Google and read on. The second and third results are both Gothamist posts that tell you everything. Or click on my name and get to one of the stories there.
Find a catchphrase in the case of Sarah Fox and I'll give you a great big "no prize".
Excelsior!
Captain Obvious: my point was not that it isn't possible that overall if the victim is white more media coverage is given than if the victim is black, but *in this particular case* it's because it's a such bizarre story.
Debbie, believe whatever you want. I've actually served on trials in which weirder things were said and done. And guess what? None of those trials got media coverage. Why? Well, no idea, but most of those trials involved non-white people.
If you think other murders are just "plain" you really need to educate yourself.
I don't mean to disrespect the victim, but if she was celebrating her new job, what if she and her friends were a bit inebriated?? Maybe she would not have said such a thing to the robber to taunt him. I feel terrible about this tragedy. And she lead to the capture of this terribly violent idnividual and friends of his. She prevented many future crimes that this person could commit. God bless her.
In the Voice piece all the editors deny race was a factor. I'm not going to call them liars based on gut-feelings and supposition. However, I would like to know the mindset behind coverage of a similar story: BEAUTIFUL WHITE FEMALE drug dealer was killed in her 2nd ave apartment by two BLACK MALE thugs. The story was front page and 6 o'clock material for a week or so. Meanwhile a street corner small-timer is gunned down in Mott Haven and we hardly hear his name. But then again rehash, rehash, rehash. We've all been through this already.
Most murder victims don't have headshots for the paper.
Well, if blacks are tired of this type of coverage, then maybe they will try and get a hold on their thug kids who go out and do this crap. There is some truth to stereotypes ya know.