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Is Media Ignoring Boy?s Murder Case Because Suspects Are Gay?
ABC News ^ | 4/13/2003 | ABC News Staff

Posted on 08/21/2003 4:47:51 AM PDT by JesseHousman

A 13-year-old boy in Arkansas dies after a horrific sexual crime but much of the national media ignore the story. Conservative columnists and other critics think they know why — because the boy's accused killers are gay.

"[The media] doesn't want the public to think about homosexuality and pedophilia and torture and the murder of children," says Don Feder, a conservative columnist at the Boston Herald. The boy, Jesse Dirkhising, was bound, drugged, tortured and raped for five hours before he died in 1999.

Last month, a jury convicted Joshua Brown, 23, of rape and murder. Brown was sentenced to life in prison without parole, the maximum sentence. Brown's lover, Davis Carpenter, 39, goes on trial next month.

But the case received little attention in the national media. Critics say that is evidence of pro-gay bias, noting that news organizations gave extensive coverage to the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, a young gay man who was hung on a fence post by two straight men and left to die.

Protesters outside Brown's trial in Bentonville, Ark. held signs that read, "Pro-Gay Media Shame." Conservative and anti-gay groups have made the same argument for months on their Web sites and in their publications.

Their argument was given more weight when it was embraced by one of the country's most provocative gay writers, Andrew Sullivan, in The New Republic.

Sullivan compared media coverage of the two cases, and found what he described as a "staggering" discrepancy. He concluded that the media "hyped" the Shepard case to build support for the inclusion of gays under federal hate crime protection, and ignored the Dirkhising case for fear of feeding anti-gay prejudice.

"I think there is clearly evidence that many in the media decided we're not going to go there because we know it will feed anti-gay prejudice," Sullivan told ABCNEWS.

Editors at the television networks and major newspapers have responded that they covered the Shepard crime because it was part of a national issue — hate crime legislation.

"For a crime story or a murder story, even a horrific and sad one like [that of] Jesse Dirkhising, to be covered by the national press, I think there has to be an issue of larger social significance attached to it," says Martha Moore, a media reporter for USA Today.

Editors say that while it may seem cold, countless rapes and murders — gay and straight — regularly go unreported in the national media because they are not part of a larger issue.

Editors also say that the horrific details of the Dirkhising case made it hard to report.

According to an account Brown gave police after his arrest, he and Carpenter had tied Dirkhising to a bed with duct tape as part of a "game." Then they gave Dirkhising an enema of urine that they had dosed with amitriptyline, an antidepressant and a sedative.

Jesse was gagged with a pair of dirty underwear while Brown raped the boy and Carpenter directed the scene, according to Brown's account. The boy died of suffocation, which Brown said was an accident.

Brown told police he was acting on instructions that Carpenter wrote and drew for him on a pad of paper. Prosecutors plan to use the notes and diagrams as evidence at Carpenter's trial.

Another charge prosecutors intend to make at Carpenter's trial is that the men were planning on other rapes. Prosecutors intend to to submit handwritten short stories that police found in Carpenter's apartment, which were explicit writings envisioning future rapes and tortures, mentioning one local girl by name.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Extended News; US: Arkansas
KEYWORDS: abcnews; analcanallove; dirkhising; donfeder; dontbendover; gay; homosexual; homosexualagenda; homosexuality; jessedirkhising; lavendermafia; liberalmedia; matthewshepard; mediabias; murder; pc; pedophilia; prisoners; torture
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To: tdadams
What a response (#27) to someone who posted an honest and legitimate comment!

Your agenda is clearly on the side of the homosexuals and their plans for this nation. Your rude, sarcastic remarks to others is totally uncalled for and out of place, but is indicative of your busy agenda.

It's difficult to defend the indefensible and you are doing a lousy job of it, thank God!

41 posted on 08/21/2003 8:35:44 AM PDT by JesseHousman
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To: JesseHousman
ACLUM Legal Director John Reinstein, who is one of the lawyers representing NAMBLA in the suit, acknowledged that "I think it is fair to say that most people disagree with NAMBLA and that many would find its publications offensive. Regardless of whether people agree with or abhor NAMBLA's views, holding the organization responsible for crimes committed by others who read their materials would gravely endanger important First Amendment freedoms."

WTHeck?

But they can hold right-wing-talk-radio responsible for Tim McVeigh and all the rest?

That's the biggest load of BS I have heard all day. Of course, it's still pretty early here so I expect more will be coming.

42 posted on 08/21/2003 8:37:30 AM PDT by Terriergal ("multipass!")
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To: JesseHousman
A 13-year-old boy in Arkansas dies after a horrific sexual crime but much of the national media ignore the story. Conservative columnists and other critics think they know why - because the boy's accused killers are gay

Ya know, if it was a priest I'm sure we'd hear no end of it.

43 posted on 08/21/2003 8:38:42 AM PDT by Terriergal ("multipass!")
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To: vaudine
Vaudine, your comment is worth saving to throw again in the face of a pro-homosexual agenda agent.
44 posted on 08/21/2003 8:39:53 AM PDT by JesseHousman
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To: JesseHousman
The answer to the question is that they are not hiding it, but not giving it any real emphasis.

MEdia bias is pervasive. Just remember the confused and disapointed look in the faces of the talking heads when the DC Sniper turned out out to be two african-american men, who looked just a bit too chummy, and the dominant one was a muslim who bitterly hated the USA. Nope, no redneck here, like they had been saying for weeks. The look in their eye was telling.

How about their breakdown on election night 1994? I wish I had that on videotape, can any freeper dub me a copy? They were also clearly off their game on election night 2002.

By the same token, Brit Hume looked like he needed oxygen early in the night when it looked like Dubya was a goner, especially when he lost many of those swing states in the east and midwest, and Florida was called for Gore.

They can't hide it - it's pervasive, and it's dominant leftism. Thankfully they seem to be losing infleunces as people turn to more balanced news sources.
45 posted on 08/21/2003 8:49:39 AM PDT by HitmanLV (I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.)
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To: JesseHousman
Your agenda is clearly on the side of the homosexuals and their plans for this nation.

Oh, brother, what a joke you are. Can you be any more predictable?

Sorry if I don't bow at the feet of the FR anti-gay crusades, but that doesn't make me on 'their side'.

I don't like it when leftists paint all Christians, or all gun owners, or all conservatives with an unfairly broad brush. So, being philosophically consistent, I object when conservatives use the same broad brush on others. So hang me!

46 posted on 08/21/2003 9:34:07 AM PDT by tdadams
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To: goldstategop
" I'm sure most of them live lives like us straights do"

Uuuuuh ... I don't think so. Perhaps you've been in the gold state a little to long.

47 posted on 08/21/2003 9:36:41 AM PDT by fella
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To: tdadams
Dont worry I wont! It is my business and every Americans business to protect children who cant protect themselves plus it would not be my business if it were not so much in the public eye.
You dont like my stance so be it but there is not a damn thing you can do about it.You have your opinion and when you voice it I will reply. This is an open board and all opinions count.
48 posted on 08/21/2003 10:05:02 AM PDT by gunnedah
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To: gunnedah
You dont like my stance so be it but there is not a damn thing you can do about it.You have your opinion and when you voice it I will reply.

You say this as if I'm trying to have you arrested for sedition. Has anyone ever told you you have a persecution complex?

49 posted on 08/21/2003 10:25:48 AM PDT by tdadams
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To: JesseHousman; DoughtyOne; MeeknMing


Basically you have one liberal "tolerant" poster on this thread defending willful and malicious planned violent criminal behavior including murder directed against small children.

Judge accordingly.

Don't be confused by other issues this poster advocates.

Defending the NABLA/ACLU kid rapists and kid killers pretty much negates all of that camo BS.

50 posted on 08/21/2003 11:08:22 AM PDT by autoresponder (PETA TERRORISTS .wav file: BRUCE FRIEDRICH: http://tinyurl.com/hjhd)
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To: gunnedah
"You can't post it enough."!!!!!!!!!

Absolutely! And I have another thought: Why don't we use the word "homosexual" as opposed to "gay" on this forum?

Seems to me that "gay" hardly describes how sick "homosexuals" really are?

Our use of the language to communicate thoughts and ideas suffers greatly when it is "toned down" to aviod offending offensive people!

IMHO, we ought to be about offending offensive people in the hope that they will quit being so damn offensive!

51 posted on 08/21/2003 11:17:24 AM PDT by Taxman
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To: tdadams
Hate me for it if you like, but sometimes I play the devil's advocate.

I just knew you were fooling us! Time to take off your devil's advocate hat now and tell us what you really think about these perverts.

52 posted on 08/21/2003 11:17:59 AM PDT by JesseHousman
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To: Taxman
I never use the word "gay" to describe a homosexual degenerate pervert.

The word "gay" still has meaning for me, but always in the proper sense.

To create a new race of people and call them "gays" is so repugnant that descriptive words fail me. Their agenda moves forward with the help of the courts, congress, media and, unfortunately, (dis) organized religion.

53 posted on 08/21/2003 11:24:13 AM PDT by JesseHousman
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To: goldstategop
Actually, homosexuals DO NOT live their lives like heterosexuals do -- that is why they are called homosexuals!

HST, I agree with you -- the news should not be censored because some group or person "might be" offended.

Societal rules are designe to exert pressure on socially offensive people for the express purpose of causing them to change their behavior and become better citizens.

If a society' good citizens are barred FRom criticising offensive people, then the society is doomed!

HELLO? CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?

54 posted on 08/21/2003 11:25:24 AM PDT by Taxman
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To: JesseHousman
That is the best news I have read today!
55 posted on 08/21/2003 11:32:09 AM PDT by Taxman
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To: JesseHousman
Well, good on you. All I want is for the word we use to match the intent of our communication.

Using "gay" to describe homosexuals hardly correlates with the perversity of homosexual behavior, whereas the term homosexual does, at least for me and most other heterosexuals.

This Orwellian redefinition of terms to convey a more benign meaning and thus "de-stigmatize" the concept being described has got to stop somewhere!

Might as well be here.
56 posted on 08/21/2003 11:40:57 AM PDT by Taxman
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To: JesseHousman
Every living breathing person is a potential killer.
57 posted on 08/21/2003 11:43:04 AM PDT by GSWarrior
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To: autoresponder
bttt for later read. Thanks !


We're On A Mission From God


58 posted on 08/21/2003 11:45:15 AM PDT by MeekOneGOP (Check out the Texas Chicken D 'RATS!: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/keyword/Redistricting)
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To: tdadams
Sounds to me you may have certain latent desires that are now coming to the surface.Never can tell there,uh!
59 posted on 08/21/2003 11:58:47 AM PDT by gunnedah
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To: tdadams
So hang me!

Got rope?

60 posted on 08/21/2003 12:02:08 PM PDT by TXnMA (No Longer!!! -- and glad to be back home in God's Gountry!!)
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