Well, the experts could have been further off the mark, we suppose. The Washington-area sniper could have turned out to be a gang of Japanese grandmothers on bicycles. (White bicycles, of course.)
But the truth is embarrassing enough. The chief suspects in the case -- the ones whose gun matches up with the bullets in 11 of the shootings -- are not at all what the media promised. Driving not a white van, but a blue Chevy Caprice. Looking like neither a white McVeigh type nor an olive-skinned foreigner, but a 41-year-old black, American ex-sergeant and a 17-year-old Jamaican, motivated by who knows what.
Hear a loud snapping noise? No need to duck. That's just the sound of an army of profilers, closing up their suitcases in a rush to get out of town. They'll have to move fast to escape the scorn of the printed media. Reporters are slinging ink fast at the "experts" and the TV networks that trooped them into the studios to fill the imaginations of info-starved viewers. No sanctimonious preaching needed now, just let the bastards get chewed by their own soundbytes.
That's the strategy adopted by the Baltimore Sun, which printed up contradictory assertions from various profilers. Military, not military. Family man, loner. One person, two. Sophisticated, easy to catch. With so many experts guessing wide of the mark, some who were less wrong felt jubilant. The New York Times caught retired New York detective Bo Dietl "wrapping up one interview while getting his face powdered for another." Dietl had guessed that there were two snipers, a pair of "twerpy teens." He gave himself full credit. According to the Times, "Dietl said he felt so good yesterday about his forecast, 'it's like I picked the right team and won the World Series.'" Uggh.
We'd like to think that the media has learned not to put its trust in profilers, but that doesn't seem likely. Profilers, after all, provide entertainment. And while a USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll found 91% of respondents following the case at least "somewhat" closely, "60 Minutes" correspondent Steve Kroft had an explanation: "It's a movie, it's Hollywood," he told Larry King. (How's that for media-on-media?) "These are things we see in movies and television shows that never happen in real life."
Give yourself five points if you can still tell the difference between TV and real life. Take another five if you've developed a healthy skepticism for eyewitness accounts. And if you're waiting to hear from the older suspect, John Allen Muhammad, before assuming a connection between the murders he's thought to have committed and his faith in Islam, go to the head of the class.
Meanwhile, perhaps this strange and bloody narrative will hold one further surprise. For some time, pundits have been anguishing that the all-powerful press may have overstepped its bounds, broadcasting information about roadblocks and talking too loudly, inciting the shooter(s) to fresh rage. The L.A. Times was among those worried: Were CNN and other news outlets giving the sniper(s) too much notoriety? Were they egging him/them on? Now there's reason to doubt that the alleged snipers were watching the media anywhere near as closely as it was watching itself. By all accounts, the police apprehended the suspects sleeping in their car. And though the police won't confirm this, the Associated Press is reporting that Baltimore police found the pair sleeping in the vehicle earlier this month. But a 1990 sedan isn't the best place to plug into cable. So maybe, all along, the sniper-wary pundits have been talking to everyone but the shooters. If we insist on drawing a lesson from this madness, we could do worse than humility. - Lori Patel
Pair Seized in Sniper Attacks; Gun in Car Tied to 11 Shootings
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14158-2002Oct24.html
Sniper White Van Was Red Herring (Austin360)
http://tinyurl.com/27ca
Muslims Fear Sniper Backlash
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20021024_1461.html
Sniper murders solved, police say
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/4363048.htm
Md. Prosecuter Says Press Created Climate Of Fear (Editor and Publisher)
http://tinyurl.com/27c9
End to 3 Weeks of Terror for the Capital Region
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/25/national/nationalspecial/25SHOO.html
So many answers, so little insight
http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/lifestyle/bal-to.quotes24oct24,0,1655967.story
Did On-the-Spot Coverage Put Lawmen on the Spot?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8479-2002Oct24.html
Media's Role in Drama Debated
http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/showcase/la-na-media24oct24.story
Failed Relations Color Picture of Troubled Suspect
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13214-2002Oct24.html
Who are the sniper suspects?
http://www.kstp.com/article/view/51391/
Poll finds appetite for sniper coverage
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20021024/4561448s.htm
Key Developments in the Sniper Case
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20021025_19.html
A Frenzy of Speculation Was Wide of the Mark
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/25/national/25FORE.html
So the sniper may not have been an Angry White Male, after all (Boston Phoenix)
http://tinyurl.com/27cb
Local media miss the real stories
http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/local/4356974.htm
Piecing Together Sniper Coverage
http://www.poynter.org/centerpiece/102502Coverage.htm
