Looking around the web recently, the thought crossed my mind that what we really need is an award to recognize the exceptionally irresponsible reporting that happens all too often in the case of the Zodiac Killer.
I’m not talking about your average Joe, armed with only a keyboard and a set of unjustifiable opinions, leaving his mark on the net. Quite frankly, who cares? I’m talking about organizations who are, or portray themselves to be, part of the profession of news reporting. The type of organizations to whom the public turns for knowledge and guidance regarding stories of the day. People who, simply put, ought to know better.
Such an award should have a proper and fitting name which embodies the sensibilities of the recipients and the accomplishments which have made the recipients deserving of the award.
As you might have guessed, I’ve considered all of these issues carefully and I’m happy to report that I’ve successfully worked out the details of just such an award. You’ve heard of the Nobel Prize, the Oscar, the Emmy, the Espy and even the Razzie. Now, please allow me to introduce:
The Dubie [pronounced doo-bie], an award recognizing outstanding achievement in the practice of irresponsible news reporting on the subject of the Zodiac Killer.
Dubie is derived from the word “dubious” and hence represents all the qualities that we’ve come to expect from so-called news organizations who value sensationalism and popularity over journalistic annoyances like accuracy, fact checking, honesty, due diligence, and a concern for the public good.
Astute readers who are experienced in the ways of the world may perceive another aspect by which the Dubie is apropos. While I cannot deny the existence of this duality, it is but a fortunate, secondary characteristic – a fringe benefit of sorts.
Normally, awards are “announced” or “handed out”. However, in the interest of creating a set of circumstances and traditions that are unique to our new award, I feel it’s appropriate to present the Dubie by way of its own phrase. For these reasons, the winners of the award shall “pass the Dubie” from one recipient to the next.
Of course, no such newly-created award would be complete without the announcement of an inaugural winner. Not surprisingly, there are no shortage of nominees. Yet, the selection process was made relatively simple given the magnitude of one particular nominee’s achievement.
In fact, the Dubie owes much to the efforts of this particular news organization in that, without their particular achievement, I very well may not have been sufficiently motivated to invest the time and effort required to establish the Dubie. Therefore, I personally owe a debt of gratitude to our introductory recipient.
Without further ado, may I have a drum roll please…
Whoever has the Dubie (you know who you are), please, pass the Dubie to: firstcoastnews.com.
Let’s have a look at the outstanding achievement which earned firstcoastnews.com this impressive distinction. As with many of the recent Zodiac-Killer news stories on the web, fistcoastnews.com was reporting on Lyndon Lafferty’s recent book. Embedding a video report from another news organization, KXTV in Sacramento, firstcoastnews.com added a short post to their website explaining:
Zodiac killer identified, but is already dead
The infamous Californian serial killer was 91 and just died in Feb, but not before victims sister met him.
Who knew? I guess we can all go home now… Good thing I found this article. To think, I almost missed it!
I have a suspicion that this post will disappear at some point in the not-too-distant future. Therefore, in the interest of posterity, I’m keeping an image of it.
It’s important to point out that many awards similar to the Dubie, e.g. the various Nobel Prizes, are accompanied by some component of monetary value. Not wanting to have the Dubie perceived as lacking in this regard, I have decided to personally bankroll a similar component of value. To this end, each winner of the Dubie shall be entitled to one large bag of Doritos in the flavor or their choosing. To collect this part of the prize (firstcoastnews.com, I’m talking to you), simply contact me.
Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in congratulating the first-ever winner of the Dubie: firstcoastnews.com!
A fine idea and a well-deserved award. I will add a can of Drain-O to your chips, just to be sure the reward appropriately reflects the journalistic skills. One should never eat chips without an appropriate beverage.
Mike
Excellent! Doritos and Drain-O, sounds like the perfect prize combo to me!
LOLOLOL! Yes, you did pick the most dubious for sure. That “article” still makes me laugh and laugh.
I also think either of these are worthy of consideration when you see the title of the video that accompanies each article.
http://www.christianpost.com/news/zodiac-killer-identified-since-1971-adulterous-judge-hindered-investigation-video-75063/
http://www.christianpost.com/news/zodiac-killer-identified-91-year-old-hidden-by-police-video-74995/
Excellent find, Tracers!!
I think I’ll start a thread to accumulate nominations for the Dubie. People will be able to contribute the findings from their Zodiac-related internet exploits, just as you’ve done above.
Mike, after giving this the consideration it truly deserves, I’d like to nominate Gareth Penn and his seminal work, Times 17. After all, he broke away from the pack with that opus and started a thread that is still wriggling around the case to this day. He was the first with the most and, for this reason, he should be considered for a DUBIE.
Vote early and vote often . . . for Gareth Penn.
Thanks Mike! I’ll add it to the nominations thread once I get around to making it.
I’d like the ranch favored Doritos. Small bag is fine.Please ship fresh as per expiration date.
If I do not get this Award I will do something nasty like you know I am capable of doing.
Hahaha! You crack me up, Howard 🙂
My vote goes to the awful series of reports on Dennis Kaufman by Sacramento’s CBS13.
I think the reason why the media put that story out there is to cover up the real story. Edward Wayne Edwards was treated like a king here in North Carolina. He should have stayed here. But of course, I am glad that he didn’t. I was reading on the internet in November 2015 and saw his picture from the 1970’s. I recognized him, and noted that yes, he even had the mole on his left cheek that I knew to look for. I remember when Edwards was arrested but I didn’t recognize him in his old age. I ordered John Cameron’s book and found someone who was saying something similar to me in the late 1980’s…there is a serial killer who looks like the sketch I drew, using government credentials and he’s killing men, women, and children all over the country. He was responsible for a lot of the killings that made major news headlines. What I mostly remembered was his hairline then. I know that I have been shown his picture by authorities on more than one occasion. Not only did I go to authorities, but I wouldn’t let up. And neither would he. He taunted me over the phone with what he would do in the future. When I was shown a picture of him, I was told “He is an honorable man.” I said “No, he is a horrible person and I want you to remember I told you that!” I think he chose me as his nemesis because I celebrated with a cake on the day the FBI first busted him. To a normal person that would be called a coincidence. My father was a Carpenter’s Union Representative in Charlotte and I’m sure Edwards thought we were communists as well as Christians and my father was a 32nd degree Mason. We lived at Granny Parker’s Place but since we rented and the man with the hook arms had cows in the pasture…yes, I suppose it could be called Marshall Ranch. I believe the Bullhole, now a park in Coolemee, NC became his new Lake Berryessa. I’ve had many run-ins with him and I have seen him in his get-up. I told my teen-age son not to ever think of the Zodiac Killer as cool. I knew him and he was a bastard. There are and have been people in jail because of him. Abbott was put to death and I hope no one else will be. Please read “Metamorphosis of a Criminal,” and “It’s Me!” by John Cameron.
He did just what he said he’d do, such as killing people and making it look like an accident. When I saw I’ve had run-ins with him, that is short for horrible experiences. In California when he was threatening me on the phone, I called police and just because I called for help, I was told either you go willing or not willing but you have to be put in a mental hospital. So you are looking at perhaps 20 years later a shrink looks at me and says I’m not crazy. My family and I were angry. I asked for my phone to be bugged and I went to the Army and told them the Zodiac Killer was after us. There was a real opportunity for Edwards to be stopped. Maybe he was smarter than all of us…but just as I told him. If he was smart he’d be rich too. And that was just his downfall. He killed for money: his foster son. What most people don’t understand is that those lover’s lanes murders are the tip of the iceberg. Someone here in North Carolina thought their teen-age son died in a car wreck, when really he was killed with an axe. Nobody wanted to open that can of worms.