The News & Observer filed a motion yesterday in the Orange County Superior Court in order to have Eve Carson’s autopsy report unsealed. The News & Observer would have you think that they’re fighting for your right to obtain public information. But there is no overriding public need that justifies the paper’s intrusion of Eve Carson’s and her family’s privacy in the gruesome details of this case.
Despite the fact that these court documents have been sealed, by Orange District Attorney Jim Woodall, for specific reasons related to the case, (which is apparently quite a rare occurrence) the paper pursues the report anyway. This move clearly exposes the News & Observer’s sensationalism-obsessed motives: they want to “get the story,” even if it means compromising some simple principles of journalistic ethics.
What does the News & Observer have to gain? Attention. Money. Power. As the News & Observer continually seeks these dominative goals, they have no taste. The paper is simply heckling the Superior Court to gain the vulgar, lurid details of this popular murder case for its own personal success.
Is this move out of desperation? The News & Observer already missed big with this case, as a much smaller Raleigh newspaper broke photos of the murder suspect and received national attention. I can sympathize the notion of putting checks on the government, but at the cost of compassion towards the victim of a gross tragedy? Oh right, I forgot, it’s just business.