I hesitate, but I need to ask …
So much is happening in the news that I find distressing, not because the events affect me but because the attitude fallout does. I have stated before that unfairness troubles me, situations with mismatched cause and effect. In particular two very different situations in recent and current news that affect persons both sides of ‘the pond’.
Situation one: A person has been awarded ‘diplomatic immunity’ and protected by their government and legal system for more than a year, despite being wanted for questioning on a charge of manslaughter through dangerous driving. A young person lost their life and the grieving parents have not been shown justice.
Situation two: A person has been summoned to answer a charge of sexual assault of a minor, age 17 years 7 months, twenty years after the alleged event. Despite “innocent until proven guilty” in law the person has been vilified in the media and stripped of honours.
I cannot comment on the facts, only knowing what the media force-feed us in order to turn the maximum profit, but it does seem that the charge of manslaughter – of taking a young life – is held less dear than whatever was taken in the second case.
Whichever way I look at it, I cannot square this circle.
I, along with too many other young women and men, have suffered abuse and rape. I, along with too many of those young persons, have spent years in and out of mental hospitals, racked with suicidal ideation and self-harm impulses. And I know I am not alone in experiencing further abuse in those hospitals, seen as easy targets and emotional wrecks.
Money speaks louder than life. Money is more than the difference between right and wrong. Money rarely fights for justice.
I accept that my words will polarise opinion, that I may be hanging myself out for condemnation. But I am interested in influencing people, not in winning friends. Sorry Mr Carnegie.
marilyn unmasked 
I agree that trial by media is rampantly unfair and often gets it wrong. Much is expected, though, from those who are given much.
I’ve made errors of judgement in younger days – who hasn’t. I’ve also been dazzled by people I should have seen through, but hindsight is a wonderful thing. I can also understand the mindless actions that happen in times of panic, but there again… hindsight can guide subsequent actions.
Wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing to have ethical media?
Just one ethically reporting TV channel or newspaper could change the world. But of course sensation sells. Envy plays a part too, I’m afraid.
I am completely in agreement with the sentiment of your post. Firstly the two cases are being treated quite differently by the legal process, and by the media. Secondly, I’m not sure when it happened, perhaps it was a slow creeping process, but facts have now become clouded with opinions in the media. I too have recently wished for at least one media outlet that would report the facts as they stand rather than immediately stating opinion, slanting the report in a particular way, and as is often the case having a studio person interviewing another member of the same media! In my view this is why there is now so much anger vented towards the BBC who always used to set so much higher standards and rise above things.
I think I know the two stories to which you refer. The woman who killed the young man in the first example should technically face a UK court hearing soon but it was postponed for some reason. How she scored diplomatic immunity, I don’t know. I can’t begin to imagine how Harry’s family have been feeling about it all. The second is so many shades of grey I don’t know what to believe. It does seem like Andrew was close to the guy and continued to be so even after allegations were openly made. What he knew exactly and what he did exactly are probably things we’ll never know the truth to. It is mind-boggling how suspects can be dragged through the mud and lose so much before any facts are known and any guilt can be ascribed. In his case, I think it’s more obvious he was in the middle of things, it’s just not known how much involvement he truly had. He hasn’t helped himself at any point in the process and I can’t see him coming clean if he was privy to abuse.
We see so many instances of money, authority and social class used to exploit or to hide things under the carpet. The anger becomes palpable. There’s no fairness.
A really good post. I’m sorry I have no answers or lightness to which to take the edge off how awful such things are.
Caz xx
Hi Caz,
Thanks for your response. I do like a good conversation.
I have thoughts on the matter, too many for my own good as I have lost much sleep and needed extra meds to cope. I can put up with personal issues far easier than when I detect unfairness wherever it is.
In short, although I have spent hours researching stories and events, there are too many questions for me to process.
With so many ‘guilty parties’ why just the one photo? If so traumatised by what was about to happen, why ask for a photo for your mom? If so controlled, where did the courage to ask your ‘controller’ to take a photo come from? If the situation was illegal, why pose for a photo that you knew was for the mom? The photo wasn’t Polaroid, so who got it processed? Why no other photos of the night? If vodkas had been drunk all evening at Tramp, how did they stay sober? And the heights? One is 6′. The other, in recent photos and wearing heels, looks much shorter than a 5’7″ lawyer.
As you rightly say, we will probably never know all the facts, nor all the truths. But I wish for the sake of the families involved in both cases that justice is done.
Maz, X