To Our Readers
By John Flanagan
Saturday, April 13, 1996
They also generated strong responses from some readers. 'We've seen too much about that Miranda guy,' one told me. 'I'm tired of reading that stuff. You people are just glorifying him. Kids see those stories - is this the kind of role model they should have?'
On the radio Friday, I heard a commentator complaining that all the news magazine covers showed the Unabomber suspect and headlines calling him a 'mad genius.' Why, she asked, is a white male suspect always stereotyped as a 'genius?' If a black woman were arrested, she supposed, she would have been labeled a 'mad welfare mother.'
There's a common flaw here: the false assumption that news always has a spin. Some readers actually believe we printed news stories about hostage-taker Miranda to give him publicity or fame. Others, used to being stereotyped, see stereotypes everywhere.
Sure, there's a mad-genius stereotype - can't make a James Bond movie without one. In the Unabomber's case, however, if there was no such stereotype we'd have to invent it. 'Mad genius' is a two-word description that fits.
People confuse being notorious with enjoying notoriety, publicity and celebrity. I enjoy a good, paranoid conspiracy theory as much as the next guy, so I understand why people feel that way. Eventually, however, we all have to just face the facts.
