Murder He Wrote... NOT (UPDATED)

Updated: If you're coming in from Steve Huff's site, tell him to fix his comments on his blog, they won't allow new ones. And also tell him that "Taran" says that "Steve" wrote a sensationalistic headline, and that is the core of the problem - misting the issue is silly. Stupid. And in my eyes, immoral.

Andy Carvin wrote, 'Another Murder, Another Blogger: How Will the Media React?' today, and speculated on how the traditional media would react. Silently, I hoped he wouldn't be right about the murderer being mentioned as a blogger by anyone, and I also cursed him quietly under my breath for having connected the dots for the traditional media who get paid to rewrite the scoop of many citizen journalists¹. But I know Andy, and I know where he was coming from - and figured that it might as well be nipped in the bud by someone. Andy chose to do it. I sat back and waited, hoping he would not be right.

And damn it, he was right: 'Kevin Underwood: Another Deadly Blogger?'. Great sensationalism, Steve Huff, I bet you want traffic to your blog. Denied on general principle: I don't support sensationalism. OK? There's no link between the blog and the criminal acts, so put on your concrete shoes and tour the bottom of the gene pool; drown in the quality of readership that is attracted by that headline. It's repugnant to society, what [t:Kevin Underwood] did. It's a horrible thing. And it seems more horrible to cash in on it. That's the fine edge of professional journalism, and it slices deep.

The problem here is that Kevin Underwood wasn't a stereotypical blogger. Really. First, look at his traffic history for his blog, 'Strange Things are Afoot at the Circle K. Then look at his blog: No advertising. If he were a true stereotypical blogger, he probably would have wrote what he did so he could get traffic, and advertising to pay for his defense.

No, while I'm not a criminologist (though I've read a lot of books on criminology), it's apparent that - as Andy pointed out - there were cries for help, but after reading a few months back in his blog, it was sort of apparent that he didn't say what he intended to do out loud. No, he was busy fantasizing - so much so that the entries were really short toward his last posts. One liner redirects, which probably means he was busy thinking about what was going on in his own version of physical reality.

Let's clear something up for everyone. That Kevin Underwood had a blog did not make him a murderer, and that he was a murderer doesn't mean he had to have a weblog. His 'cries for help' on his blog were no worse than some of the things a lot of non-murderers have written.

And, in a sad twist of fate, his weblog is going to get more attention than it has in all the previous months adding up to this. The stats say it all. Sad people.

And then there's another twist. With all news on the Amber alerts for Jamie Rose Bolin, not ONE of them had a picture of her. Not even a stick figure. Shame.

¹ There, I said that. Someone from a newspaper rewrite that, why don't you? :-)
² written by a bow-tie wearing blogger. Personally, I'll opt for the murderers. There's something unnatural about bow-ties. It doesn't even look right when I type it.