By Russell Cremer
I have resisted writing this letter for two years, as I do not have direct knowledge of the events of the boat accident on Clear Lake three years ago. However, that has not stopped 99.5 percent of the previous writers on the subject.
The media is quick to defend its First Amendment right to free speech but falls far short of its responsibility for fair and impartial reporting that goes with those rights. For instance, immediately after the accident, the Lake County Sheriff”s Office turned the investigation over to the Sacramento Sheriff”s Office in order to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest. Other than it being reported shortly after the accident, this has not been included in any other article that I have read. Yet reporters from this newspaper and a regional television station (which has taken on National Enquirer-like qualities) have doggedly repeated every other detail and innuendo they can to sensationalize this dated story. You should be ashamed of yourselves.
To be sure, this accident was a tragedy. A person lost her life and that should not be taken lightly. If laws were broken, the guilty should be held accountable for their actions. That is the task of our justice system. The attorney for the accused is doing his best to get his client acquitted. That is his job. That he is using the media as his dupe to help with this is good strategy on his part. It says little for the media. It also makes me wonder about the strength of the rest of his defense.
Although the attorney has made several motions to get (1) the case dismissed, (2) the district attorney removed and (3) the venue changed, and has done this before with more than one judge, the rulings have gone against him each time. This implies to me that there is merit to the charges. It may still result in acquittal (or conviction) before a jury of his peers, but it does need to go through the process.
In a perfect world, the media will go back to impartially reporting the news rather than enhancing and sensationalizing it. Unfortunately, it is not a perfect world.
Russell Cremer
Clearlake
