Media climate made suckers for Sparkman’s ruse
In a media environment where the public seems to prefer ideology, opinion, speculation and outrage over fact and reason, Bill Sparkman seemed to think he could find plenty of suckers.
He was right.
Authorities said Tuesday that their investigations had determined the part-time Clay County census worker committed suicide in an elaborate ruse to cash in two life insurance policies worth $600,000.
Sparkman wanted to make it look as if he was murdered by an anti-government zealot, authorities said. So he stripped naked, hanged himself from a tree, taped his Census badge to his head and wrote “FED” across his chest with a black marker.
News reports of Sparkman’s death in September were quickly seized upon by the national media’s talking heads. Not many facts were available, but that didn’t matter.
To left-wing bloggers and talk show hosts, this seemed like the perfect example of what can happen when right-wing bloggers and talk show hosts — not to mention public officials — preach anti-government rhetoric.
Even some reporters, who should have known better, used speculation about Sparkman’s death as an opportunity to exploit other themes and stereotypes. If it wasn’t anti-government crazies who killed Sparkman, maybe it was drug dealers or moonshiners.
The headline of the Sunday Herald in Scotland said: “U.S. Official killed in Kentucky — the land of Meth and Moonshine.” ABC News did a report about drugs in Appalachia that began by saying Sparkman’s death had “put renewed focus” on the subject, even though it cited no facts to support that claim.
It wasn’t just media people who jumped to conclusions.
In an op-ed piece published Oct. 19 in the Herald-Leader, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees, John Gage, wrote:
“While the investigation into Sparkman’s death is not yet complete, I don’t believe it’s a coincidence that this occurred after an unprecedented wave of hate speech by public officials, media figures and leaders of extremist organizations, some aimed directly at the census and some targeting President Barack Obama and the government in general.”
Sparkman suckered them all. Police weren’t so easily fooled, but they had to spend a lot of time and taxpayers’ money to make sure the media swirl would be silenced.
These tempests seem to happen frequently now, and it’s easy to see why.
Bloggers and talk show hosts — who aren’t journalists, but advocates and entertainers unencumbered by journalistic ethics — know that the more outrageous their comments, the more attention they’ll get.
Even public officials are getting in on the act, saying things they know aren’t true in the hope of gaining political advantage.
They all do it because the public doesn’t hold them accountable for their words. And they’ll keep doing it until the public does.
Freedom of speech comes with responsibility. Words have consequences, because crazy people will act on them — and have.
One recent example was Jim David Adkisson, who walked into a Unitarian Church in Knoxville last year with a shotgun, killing two and wounding several others. He left behind a handwritten list of grievances that read like a right-wing talk-radio script.
Hateful and irresponsible speech comes from the political left as well as the right.
Until the public rediscovers the difference between news and entertainment, journalism and advocacy, people like Bill Sparkman will continue playing the talking heads for fools.
But the talking heads are not nearly as foolish as the people on both sides of the political spectrum who listen to their shows, read their blogs, buy their books and make them rich.
The American public will get the kind of media it demands. At the moment, that isn’t much.
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November 25th, 2009 at 8:49 am
Thanks Tom Eblen for a nicely written article that makes some excellent points.
November 25th, 2009 at 9:01 am
journalistic ethics - oxymoron
November 25th, 2009 at 9:12 am
A sad story like this is perfect food for the “liberal” portion of the media.
They were so hoping it to be the fault of some conservative group that they couldn’t
stop speculating.
Kind of like the CBS fool (Dan Rather ) who so wanted GW to be guilty that he went with a story that he would never, never had gone with without weeks of cross checking if it had been one of his liberal politicians.
Nothing changes, the majority of LIBERALS have little logic !
November 25th, 2009 at 9:21 am
You are wrong Mr. Eblen People would have been the suckees. The lexington Herald Leader and the rest of the Liberal Media are the LOLLYPOPS on this one because we read and listen to you guys making the news instead of reporting the FACTS! Sucker.
November 25th, 2009 at 9:51 am
While I agree with a lot of your points Mr. Eblen, the fact is that journalism in this country has died. Thus, making them no more than bloggers that get their material put in print and over the airways.
November 25th, 2009 at 9:57 am
Tom, surely you jest. You talk about opinion journalism? Let me explain the difference. Those on talk radio do not pretend to be unbiased, they have a point of view; they are not hard news coverage. They mix hard news with opinion. The H-L on the other hand, which is supposed to be hard news; tries to play itself as hard news while still having a very biased slant. The bias on the H-L\’s part comes in different ways; whether publishing wire articles without fact checking, leaving out pertinent parts of a story, failing to cover stories that go against your left wing ideology, dictating the tone of hard news stories to slant left, publishing opposite type of stories depending on who is in office, and that is just what is done in the hard news. Then you have the editorial board and all the columnists on the community sections that are liberal; for a paper that loves diversity, they sure do not have any diversity of opinion. Lastly Tom and all those that condemn talk radio and \”opinion\” journalism, I would ask you this; first where are the lies and distortion you speak of? I never see any example of that, all I ever hear is complaints without proof of falsehoods or lies. Second did it ever occur to you that the rise in alternative media is because of the bias and lack of reporting by the MSM like the H-L? How long did it get the MSM to cover Van Jones and Acorn? When will the MSM take seriously the emails exposing the climate change hoax?
November 25th, 2009 at 10:10 am
Even public officials are getting in on the act, saying things they know aren’t true in the hope of gaining political advantage.
They all do it because the public doesn’t hold them accountable for their words. And they’ll keep doing it until the public does.
Kind of like the LFUCG and the CentrePointe Scandal. Because the American Public are nothing but sheep and will believe in things like change and hope. America looks a lot like post World War I Germany. Now all we need is for the Dictator to lead us to ruin.
November 25th, 2009 at 10:44 am
Tom, One of your finest columns. Very good job. Despite opinions to the contrary expressed by other respondents, journalism is not dead, it has high ethics and it remains important to our society and democracy. An absolute reason the United States has succeeded as it has is because the Founding Fathers were brave enough to allow a free press. No nation anywhere, anytime in history had allowed citizens to get news not controlled by the government. That doesn’t make journalism perfect, but its honest practice should be valued.
Dishonest hate talk from the far left or right might be free speech, but it is destructive to our society. I applaud those who call out the haters. The truth does win out.
November 25th, 2009 at 11:19 am
Some don’t want to hear Says, while I respect your opinion and totally agree with you about the absolute value and necessity of a free press; I differ with you on ethics. Journalism today does not have high ethics, I would venture to say it has no ethics. The Hunter Thompson “gonzo” style of journalism is very prevalent; and along with that comes a reporters own personal slant on a story. I sincerely hope that ethics can be restored in journalism, I think it can. I believe you will see new local newspapers pop up and be successful once the H-L and their ilk fold. The newspaper industry can blame it on the internet all they want, but sales have been on steady decline since 1988; and I do think there is a coincidence with that decline that it also coincides with the lifting of the fairness doctrine and the ascension of talk radio. Talk radio exposed millions of Americans to stories they were never able to hear from the MSM. All most people want is a fair, non-ideological press. The way the press gets a “shiver up it’s leg” at the site our President or any liberal icon is embarrassing. I am not republican, as you might guess. I am independent and think we should throw all of the crooks out. I think Gov Sanford should be in prison right next to Dodd and Frank. When a local paper comes out with fair hard news coverage, and that includes policing what comes over on the wires for accuracy and content; and has a multidimensional editorial and community staff; then you will see it take off like gang busters.
November 25th, 2009 at 11:30 am
I actually believe that IF the LHL did not get advertising funding from the hits to this website by bloggers argueing back & forth this LIBERAL MEDIA outlet would go under.
Whenever Conservatives wake up and realize that they are helping the LHL stay in business by voicing their opinions I bet the advertising funds would be CUT in half or more.
Wonder how long this post will stay here? ☺☻♥
November 25th, 2009 at 11:43 am
Hey, “some don’t want to hear” ………………
Do you really think main stream journalism has ethics ?
You need to wake up the other side of your breain. That is the side that dosen’t mix
“feel and want” with “fact and logic” .
(by the way, loud mouth talk radio in not journalism but rather opinion and entertainment.) Don’t you know the difference between “talk radio” and editorial writings in major newspapers ?
November 25th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
Another great article, Tom, made moreso by the folks who just can’t resist writing back and throwing around wild charges about the “liberal media.” When you get people to comment in ways that make your point so strongly, that’s great writing. When people are so far gone in their opinions (often as created by others) that they cannot even engage in civil discourse without getting choked up on them, they open themselves to all kinds of bad things. Thanks for helping us get such a clear view of what happens when this way of thinking goes too far.
November 25th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
Well, I’ve finally stopped laughing. Maybe it really is posssible to be an ultra liberal writer working for an ultra liberal newspaper and be so clueless as to think that you can sell yourself to your readers as middle of the road. The article should have started “A media (HL) that seems to prefer ideology, opinion, speculation and outrage over fact and reason”.
November 25th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
MSNBC’s mealy-mouthed coverage of this case was classic. MSNBC’s coverage of this alleged murder had been grotesque. And the worst of the lot was Rachel Maddow. And, not unlike Nancy Grace/Joan Velez-Mitchell vis-a-vis The Duke Lacrosse Hoax, when it was time to show up and accept a degree of responsibility for her hysterical coverage, who shows up in her place? The TelePrompTer-challenged Howard Dean. They covered this story for weeks, pointing a finger in a variety of rightward directions. But not only will their be no apology, the correction will appear on the equivalent of page F30. (for similar leftist stupidity see the brutal rape and murder of Ann Presley, the woman who played Ann Coulter in Oliver Stone’s movie “W”. Search on Huffington Post or Daily Kos)
November 25th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
Tom, Why are you blaming only the left wing folk. I have not seen a honest story out (Dan Rather) of the right wing (who do dominate the news world) in years. The right wing have pushed people to the left with their attitude and bias. The Duke Lacrosse shame is a really good example. It was a right wing lynch mob hanging the wrong people in that case. The liberal college pros lead the charge. Your story above does nothing constructive. Shame.
December 10th, 2009 at 11:02 am
Sparkman did not create this ruse, if it is indeed a ruse, in a vacuum. Glenn Beck, Fox Not News Channel and others created the environment in which such a ruse could be hatched.