Telling the truth
For the record: Paul Bernardo is worse than scum. He’s a soulless murderer whom we will never forget took the lives of three young girls, with their whole futures stolen from them in the most hideous and disgusting of ways. He doesn’t deserve to share our air and no matter what he does or how he ever claims to rehabilitate or reform himself (if he ever does) he deserves no mercy for what he has done.
I hope that makes it clear that what I’m about to write is in no way a defence of Bernardo. It’s in defence of the truth.
Some of my broadcasting colleagues on other stations are taking huge liberties with the interview tape now released to the media. It behooves each and every one of us to watch the entire tape before going to air with a comment on what it contains.
I heard one news anchor on a competitor play a snippet of tape on which Bernardo can be heard waffling on the answer to the question: “Did you kill Elizabeth Bain.?” He whines about the way Karla Homolka’s account of their crimes is the one that’s on the record, but she is lying. He says so many people think HE is lying that he doesn’t see the point in telling the truth.
However, later in the interview, he emphatically claims he didn’t kill Bain. That fact was never explained by the news anchor. He let the waffling hang in the air as if it was Bernardo’s only comment on the case. It was misleading and possibly meant to be that way. Either that or it was just very sloppy.
It’s not our job to tell you what to think about things. It’s our job to present things to you and let you make up your own mind. And that means offering the truth as we know it, even if it makes us personally ill, or goes against a natural human desire that many of us have to think nothing positive of someone who could do something so heinous. Not that we necessarily believe a word he has to say, of course, but, like it or not, he said it and it is our duty to say so.
June 16th, 2008 at 7:52 am
Hi Lisa,
For the record, I agree with your statement on Bernardo being a souless murdering scum, who does not deserve the slightest bit of sympathy, following his crimes.
Remember, there are so many of his victims, still so traumitized, the mere mention of his name in the media, causes them mental anguish.
I would hope producers, news directors and editors out there, would keep this thought top of mind before reporting on him and keep it to the bare minimum as his victims and their families should never be forgotten or forced to re-visit everything due to sensationalism.