I know it's not really pop culture, but living in the UK it's been hard to avoid the subject of Raoul Moat, the ex-prisoner who shot his ex-girlfriend, killed her partner and shot a police officer.
We know it all ended with Moat shooting himself, having spent the best part of a week on the run from Police and it is of course, a horrendous series of crimes. And yes, the Facebook/crime scene tributes to the psychopathic killer are at best, disgustingly distasteful - however what no one seems to be discussing is the handleing of the whole thing by the media.
Having only caught moments of the 24hour news coverage revolving around the story, it became clear that some broadcasters had caught cabin fever and had begun talking about Moat as if he were 'John Everyman', standing up for what he believed in and 'doing it for the little guy'. It really had to be seen to be believed.
Not to mention in the aftermath, the whole lynch-mob mentality where news channels and newspapers (specifically the one's run by Rupert Murdoch) have turned anyone associated with the story - Moat's brother (who ridiculously described the way Raoul died as "a public execution"), the 21-year-old girl who set up the first Facebook tribute page and Paul Gascoigne - in to a minor celebrity. All the while there's Moat's ex girlfriend recovering in hospital from her injuries, the family of her partner mourning the loss of their son/brother/friend and the police officer who is permanently blind as a result of being shot by Moat.
What we have all been witness to over the last three weeks is British media at it's absolute worse. I really hope that the families and friends involved are allowed to grieve in privacy once this is all over (and they've all sold their stories to a Sunday tabloid), rather than go through the ordeal of the media spinning this story out of all proportion for the rest of their lives.
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