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The Murder Business: How the Media Turns Crime Into Entertainment and Subverts Justice |  | Author: Mark Fuhrman
Publisher: Regnery Press
List Price: $27.95
Buy New: $17.07
as of 11/23/2009 10:53 CST details
You Save: $10.88 (39%)
New (23) Used (9) from $15.82
Seller: a1books
Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 20505
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 256
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6 x 1
ISBN: 1596985844
Dewey Decimal Number: 364.152340973
EAN: 9781596985841
ASIN: 1596985844
Publication Date: October 13, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Crime stories fascinate the public. But between factual news stories, overblown “human interest” reports and salacious murder mystery exposés, it’s difficult to tell where news ends and entertainment begins. Mark Fuhrman, best-selling author of Murder in Brentwood, explores this fine line and how it is increasingly being crossed, revealing new and shocking details on such highprofile cases as JonBenet Ramsey, Martha Moxley and Chandra Levy. In The Murder Business, Fuhrman argues that the media’s approach to covering crime (“if it bleeds, it leads”) has allowed many criminals to get away with murder and impeded the search for justice. The Murder Business presents a compelling plea for journalists, cops and citizens to demand higher ethical standards in the pursuit of justice.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 7
A Powerful Indictment of A Corrupt Media November 22, 2009
S. Peek (Rocky Mountains, USA)
Subtitled 'How The Media Turns Crime Into Entertainment And Subverts Justice', 'The Murder Business' is a very good expose of just that.
Written by longtime LAPD homicide detective Mark Fuhrman, this book clearly shows how the American new media is culpable in destroying the lives of innocents as well as virtually ensuring that some of the cases that are exploited in the infamous ratings chase will not be solved.
The author uses several high profile cases to make his case. Some of those include the following: Drew Peterson, Scott Peterson, JonBenet Ramsey, Martha Moxley, Vince Foster, and of course O.J. Simpson. One would have to almost be living in a cave to have missed the coverage of these.
Some of the appalling excesses by the media that are demonstrated here include the ways that the media creates national obsessions over their pet cases (he also shows a seemingly racist element in the selection of which cases to exploit), the way that the lives of those falsely accused and other innocent players are destroyed, and investigations are corrupted (even to the point that it will be virtually impossible to identify the killer).
One of the worst of the 'crime as entertainment' offenders profiled here is Nancy Grace. For those who are unfamiliar with her tactics, this section will not only be informative, but disgusting as well.
Mr. Furhman does not stop with identifying the problem. He also shows how the media types could actually turn their negative behavior into a big positive and help solve some crimes instead of hindering that.
This is an enjoyable read as well as being educational.
 Furman is greedy and he calls the media greedy.. November 21, 2009
Ricco (Texas)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
First, Furman is doing the very thing that has fueled his righteous indignation--he is profiting from the suffering of crime victims--he is greedy. I could care less about that, but he is being hypocritical. Or, perhaps he gains nothing from writing any book, which begs the question--Why bother to write?
Secondly, just like Furman's book, if the public did not crave sensational crime stories there would not be sensational crime stories. Without a demand (the public), there would be no supply (the public). We are complicit, and to claim otherwise is to be dishonest.
Finally, it seems preposterous for a man who committed perjury to be on any moral high horse, but Furman seems to have missed this.
I borrowed it instead of wasting $$ reading the Gospel According to a Convicted Felon. It was a good decision.
 The Media Angle Isn't Even the Best Part November 20, 2009
Alison A. Shurtleff (Benicia, CA USA)
Mark Fuhrman, someone I have long admired, has written a fascinating book. However, it's fascination is not so much in what Fuhrman has to say about media involvement in crime investigation and how it hurts police work but in his candid comments about the crimes he has investigated--crimes that have fascinated the public. Yes, he is absolutely spot on in his assessment of the role the media plays, but he could have gone even further with this, citing the prevalence and popularity of forensics shows as an influence on juries, who think murder cases should be proven in a half hour, without commercials. Juries today come to a trial with their own set of skills in analyzing forensic evidence, thanks to shows like "Cold Case Files," "The First 48," and "Forensic Files." Fuhrman could have touched on this a bit, but no matter. What makes this book so enjoyable is his insight into the death (murder) of Vince Foster, the behind-the-scenes look at the Simpson case, and the very improbable scenario that an intruder killed JonBenet Ramsey. All of the stories presented in this book are fascinating, leading to the conclusion that Fuhrman should follow this up with another, and fast.
A Departure From His Norm November 19, 2009
Butterscotch (USA)
The book is readable, interesting and provides insight into how the media and law enforcement (do not) come together for the benefit of victims who are missing or murdered. Fuhrman recounts approximately 8 recent high-profile cases and shows how the media actually interfered with law enforcement and justice. The book is actually more about the media machine and how they exaggerate events for ratings. Fuhrman's previous books have pretty much dug up cold cases and shed light upon them, but this book doesn't do that - the focus is solely on the media. I actually prefer his other books - he does seem to be a master at detective work and coming up with various theories; hopefully his next book will return to that. This book, however, is still enjoyable and informative and a worthwhile read. The one negative is that he actually ends the book by talking about the OJ Simpson case, his former LAPD partner, and the whole OJ media fiasco. I think the OJ chapter should have been at the front of the book, or even the middle. By placing the Simpson chapter at the end of the book it's the last impression you're left with, and it dredges it all up again - it's better left alone. Still a good book and he's an excellent writer.
Media meddling is an unspoken fact that never gets addressed November 5, 2009
Lisa N (Texas, USA)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
The biggest argument of facts to back up Mark Fuhrman's contention that the media has the power to change the outcome of a murder case is the OJ trial. I had no interest in the trial when it was being aired on national television, because I had a life and no desire to watch a bunch of over paid ego driven lawyers, over dramatize points of arguments. The utter contempt of Johnny Cochran to point his hypocritical finger in Mark Fuhrman's face and call him a racist, whilst he was being protected by the Nation of Islam was never reported. Why Marcia Clark didn't get a verifier of fact like Brad Roberts to back up Fuhrman's testimony was just plain stupid. Even news reporters verify facts before they report them, or at least their suppose to.
Nobody is perfect and that includes cops, but we sure need them and they risk their lives everyday to keep the rest of us safe. How a man can be labeled racist for play acting into a tape recorder for a play is beyond a stretch. What about the other people who uttered the same words as Det. Fuhrman did, yet we did not hear those utterances now did we. The case was doomed from the start when Vannatter didn't read Mark and Brad's murder scene notes and issued a general subpoena on Rockingham. That just gave the defense team time to clean up the house of the "real" evidence before the 2nd more specific subpoena was written and that's a fact annd not reported.
The letter that Brad Roberts wrote to the DA after the prelim and before the trial stating that he was the one who found the blood drops at Rockingham was another intentional act by Vannatter to protect himself by removing it from the evidence room and giving it back. The LADA can and has verified this fact. Then I saw Vannatter on national television calling Fuhrman a liar, which was another pompous attempt by a un-indicted perjurer who knows the truth and refuses to speak it.
Just as their case started to unravel, these people knew that Furhman was their scape goat. They destroyed a dedicated 20 year police officer's life and they didn't even care enough to listen to him or let him explain anything. Imagine the torture Det. Fuhrman went through being shut out and not given a voice or the opportunity to explain anything because Clark refused his attempts to speak with her. They just shut him out and threw him to the wolves. All to save their own arses!
It is also logical contention that when a child is murdered, the first people that are looked at, are the ones closest to the child. His belief that Patsy Ramsey and Casey Anthony come about statistically and logically.
He speaks the truth about the media's profit driven bottom line to get what the public demands. Some don't care if it changes the outcome of a trial. For example I had a former co-worker that was a reporter in LA and was dating one of the senior officers and got inside information on a murder case and what did she do, she reported it. No one else knew the information she was reporting except that it was new information. Don't think that station didn't benefit from her "inside" or should I say bedside information. Fuhrman's point is made right there because it landed my friend in the middle of this murder trial. A reporter who had nothing to do with that case except whom she knew and was dating. Reporters are suppose to report "the facts" and the story, not become the story.
This book is written for all of us to understand, the public, to understand the cop lingo, the angle of the story, the unknown angst of having info that you know could launch your career, whether you should keep it to yourself. It could make you a star in the 'first knower of information category' amongst your peers but Mark Fuhrman clearly demonstrated his loyalty to Justice, and not the profit margin or ratings, by keeping pertinent secret information to himself.
Buy this book, you will learn something and it's a good read and it's affordable.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 7
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