I was transfixed as the words and voice of sex offender and murderer Cecil New were aired on WHAS 11 last night. It’s not every day you can wander down the psyche of such a monster and I’ll be damned if I didn’t take in the whole thing.
Interviewed last year by the now-retired LMPD’s Troy Pitcock along with several detectives who went to the KSP at Eddyville, New gave them more than a few comments. Whether his story is true or not,we’ll never know. What we heard was disturbing.
The range of reaction is wide. It may have been closure for some and lurid programming for another but given the physical and emotional details of that conversation, it seemed that the four-year-old victim, Ivan Cano, had suffered one more jolt of indignity.
And his mother and family? I can’t fathom their sorrow.
Reeling from the near-pornographic “quality,” if you will, of the transcript, I posted some notices of disappointment on local network Facebook pages. I soon discovered, all Louisville stations ran the story on both evening and late night news, save for WDRB Fox 41 who kept it at 10:00 p.m.
Some feedback among my friends have contained the words “sensationalism,” “vulgar,” “inappropriate” and finally, “Nielsen.”
I am not naive. I realize the credo of the news media is often “if it bleeds, it leads.” By the end of the day, I hope to hear from several news directors and reporters in efforts to establish some semblance of reason. Perhaps a few thoughts on the consequences of airing some of the most vile laundry we can hang in our society.
There are too many unpleasant if not horrifying images and sound bytes on all news media today that we are forced to wade through a bloodbath every time we tune in. This we know and have to options to reach for the remote, give radio a try or go under a rock and avoid being a ratings statistic.
If the shock of New’s confession helps anyone in any way, fine. Does it help to heal the loved one of a victim or a survivor of abuse? Can it help us to see how the mind of a violent molester operates in hopes to bring down the crime rate? Could it have been just a little bit fascinating for an offender who was viewing and considering such a heinous act?
Could this transcript, which the local media has had for quite some time, be worked into a feature that would not have been so blatantly dumped into the security of our living room on the evening news?
I look forward to your input. Parents, journalists, educators, clergy residents of Louisville and others, take an opportunity to weigh in.
Whether it was late breaking or simply heart breaking, I don’t want to assume that the messengers are greedy.
