The MSM coverage of the Armanious murders vs. the Mathhew Shepard murder.

Dear Reader- just a warning. There is a twist ending to this entry.

The timeline below is taken from this page from The Advocate by John Gallagher. I edited out some parts that aren’t public relations and everything that happened after October 19^th because this post is about the differences in media coverage.

A year’s worth of history
The events that have shaped us since we first learned about Matthew Shepard

>> October 6, 1998: After having dinner with friends from the University of Wyoming’s gay student group, Matthew Shepard goes to the Fireside Lounge, where he meets Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney. Police say McKinney and Henderson lure Shepard outside by saying they are gay and then beat him and tie him to a fence outside of town.>> October 7: Shepard’s unconscious body is discovered by a bicyclist.

>> October 9: McKinney and Henderson are charged with the attack on Shepard.

>> October 12: Shepard dies without regaining consciousness. He is buried four days later.

>> October 14: Thousands attend a vigil in memory of Shepard held in Washington, D.C. Among those who speak at the event are Ellen DeGeneres, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), and Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.). Dozens of similar vigils are held across the country.

>> October 19: A demonstration in New York City to protest Shepard’s murder attracts more than 4,000 people during rush hour, halting traffic. Police arrest more than 100 people.

Okay, nice job by John Gallagher. (Apparently. I haven’t fact checked this timeline. Why would he lie?) But let me add one more thing to this timeline:

Nov. 26, 2004

20/20 debunks the theory that Matthew Shepard was killed because he was gay. (You can read that story here. Now, this post isn’t about Matthew Shepard. And, just fyi, there are many posts available which debunk 20/20’s debunking of the hate crime version of his tragic death. This post is about the PC MSM, and their differing treatment of these two stories.)

Here’s a timeline of the Armanious murders, for comparison purposes.

Jan. 14, 2005

The Armananious family is slaughtered.

Jan. 16, 2005

The NY Post runs with an article showing the murders were a probable hate crime by American Muslims. Read that article here. It includes this excerpt:

The married father of two had recently been threatened by Muslim members of the Web site, said a fellow Copt and store clerk who uses the chat room.
"You'd better stop this bull---- or we are going to track you down like a chicken and kill you," was the threat, said the clerk, who was online at the time and saw the exchange.

Since then, like in the Shepard tragedy, celebrities have come out from Hollywood to protest, have outed themselves as Christians, inspired by the slaughter, and the MSM has covered the story almost endless… NOT.

Okay, time to stop… It just occurred to me that I’ve wasted a bunch of time. In the Shepard case they caught the guys who did it. In this case they haven’t. Would the MSM have covered this story differently if the Christian family was a lesbian couple with two adopted children? How about if they had been slaughtered after being threatened online by right-wing Christians? Well, probably. But this analogy fails. Nobody has been caught. If the facts don’t fit, don’t blog it.

Ugh… What a waste. I’m going to post this as an example of a blogger self-editing… Using his own, inherent checks and balances. This is another of my failed blogs… dammit. At least I’m not like the AP or Reuters though… The MSM covers the G.I. Joe hostage taking! (hat tip to Instapundit)

Dear Reader, I apologize. Hopefully there’s enough food for thought above to have made this read something more than a complete waste of your time.