To start, I want to say that I am deeply sadden by the tragic loss of Nick Adenhart, Courtney Stewart, and Henry Pearson and my condolences go out to their family, friends and anyone who was connected to the situation.
Nick Adenhart was tragically killed in an accident on April 9th which took the lives of two others and left one person in critical condition. A driver believed to be three times over the legal limit ran through a red light and struck two cars before the driver fled by foot. Stewart and Pearson died on impact and Adenhart was rushed to a local hospital where he inevitably passed away.
Adenhart, who was twenty-two years old and had just pitched in a major league baseball game for the LA Angels of Anaheim, was going out with some friends to enjoy what should have been a glorious night. Adenhart was a top prospect in the Angels organization and made his fourth career start in the majors earlier that night.
Overall, I feel the media did a great job covering the story about Nick Adenhart, however I do feel there were some flaws in the way they merely brushed over the other two people who had been killed. Obviously, the story must include Nick Adenhart because he was one of the people involved. The media did a nice job covering his story however I have issues with the proportion of this story and the lack of recognition to the other victims.
To start, lets focus on Stewart and Pearson. I understand that they were not as high profile as Nick Adenhart but both deserve a bit more recognition. There were full tributes including the one listed here, however there were very few (if any) newspapers or other media outlets that payed tribute to Stewart or Pearson. Was Nick Adenhart any more important that Stewart or Pearson? Now I don't want to sound insensitive but I feel that Stewart and Pearson should have been given the same tributes in the media as Adenhart did. Which brings me to the next issue.
With all of the media coverage on Adenhart, I feel that the amount of media coverage surrounding this situation was a bit excessive. (once again, I feel for the families of all the victims involved, I am just looking at this issue critically) Fatal accidents due to drunk driving happen almost on a daily basis yet because Adenhart was a baseball star, the story deserves to be the lead story on Cnn.com? I have no problem making this the lead story as long as the same organizations do the same coverage for someone who is not "famous."
I know I am probably the minority with this view point, but I feel like the media could do a better job covering similar stories with less famous people. I am not naive to the fact that the reason this story was the lead was due to the fact that a major league baseball player was killed at 22 years old. (which is very sad) I just feel that it is the job of the news organization to put the same coverage if a 22 year old factory worker from Camden, New Jersey was in a similar situation. (not likely)
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