Dead-Child Porn? Toddler Bodies in the News

If it bleeds, it leads. That's an old piece of newspaper insider advice, and it has been transmitted to those in radio, television, video, Internet, cable news, and reality programming, too. Basically, the theory goes, the use of violence or the threat of violence helps news organizations sell their shows, soap, and SUVs. Dan Rather said it once, quite clearly, at a speech he gave at the National Press Club in the mid-1980s: the news is all about “death.” ~ Chapter 2: "Death Sells," The Copycat Effect, 2004

The media has a way of copycatting "death" trends. Are we in the midst of a dead-child one? Is this a ripple that one critic has called "dead-child porn"?

For example, this Labor Day, news has many details about a toddler's body parts being found in a pond in Garfield Park, Chicago.

A Toddler's Foot

First a foot was found on Saturday, September 5, 2015, at about 4:40 p.m. in the lagoon off the 200 block of McCrea Drive in Garfield Park. Then another foot and two arms were discovered in the water. Chicago police late on Sunday, September 6, 2015, found a child's head near where the other body parts were discovered in Garfield Park Lagoon the previous afternoon.

The Wikipedia photo of Garfield Park (above) compared to the newspaper photograph of police looking for body parts over the weekend.

The child's second foot, and both hands were found toward the north end of the lagoon about 25 yards away from the first location. A 20-pound weight was found nearby, but then a lot of old machine parts, motors and junk was too. The limbs were in an advanced state of decomposition and not clothed, authorities said. The gender is as yet unknown.

The portion of the park near the northwest corner of the lagoon, along Hamlin Boulevard between Lake and Washington, was closed. The lagoon is all linked, so the initial probable dumping location of the body is unknown.

Perry Starks, a member of the Garfield Park Advisory Council, said bodies have been found in the park over the years, but this discovery is particularly sad, noted the Chicago Tribune. (Please note that. Other bodies have been found, but the fact this was a toddler's makes this "particularly sad.")

In 1869, the Illinois state legislature established the West Park Commission, which was responsible for three large parks and interlinking boulevards in Chicago. The centerpiece of the system, the 185-acre Central Park, was renamed to honor President James A. Garfield (1831- 1881) after his assassination in 1881.

The Wicked Woods

Of course, it goes without saying, this crime scene for this little toddler was in the woods, with more trees all around.

The map of Garfield Park shows that one street coming in from the East is named West Maypole Avenue.

As the movie The Wicker Man reveals - in its revelation of the method mode - that child sacrifice and the Maypole celebrations in the Spring are intermingled. Was this child's death more than what first comes to mind - which is an unfortunate child abuse killing - but instead is it evidence of a toddler's sacrifice?

Maypole  = a pole painted and decorated with flowers, around which people traditionally dance on May Day, holding long ribbons that are attached to the top of the pole.

The reports say the first body part was found in the lagoon in the 200 block of McCrea Drive in Garfield Park.

McCrea = The Gaelic form of the surname McCrea is Mac Rath, which literally means "son of grace" or "son of prosperity."

The Chicago toddler story came in the wake of the story and photograph of a three-year-old boy's drowning.

The Kurdi Story

That event unfolded this way. In the early hours of September 2, 2015, Alan (incorrectly given as "Aylan" at first) Kurdi and his refugee Syrian family were in a small plastic or rubber inflatable boat, which is said to have capsized about five minutes after leaving a beach resort at Bodrum in Turkey. A total of 16 people were in the boat, which is designed for a maximum of 8 people. They were trying to reach the Greek island of Kos, a roughly 30 minute (or 2.5 mile) ride by boat from Bodrum. It is believed that none of the people in the boat wore lifejackets.

The bodies of Kurdi, his five-year-old brother and others were discovered by two employees of the beach resort at around 6:30 am on the same morning. Describing his encounter with Kurdi and another young girl, one of the employees stated, "I ran towards it and saw them. I was so afraid. He helped me pull them out of the water. They looked still alive, like they were sleeping, smiling a little. Their faces and arms and legs looked so new still. They couldn’t have been in the water an hour."

The publishing of the photograph of Alan Kurdi's lifeless body on a Turkey beach went viral. I won't publish the photograph here, for a variety of reasons. But you've probably already seen it. Instead, I'll pass along some political cartoons that try to capture the emotions that people felt when seeing that photograph of Alan Kurdi.

These and other cartoons: Source.

Dead-Child Porn

Where does this fit in this modern world of "media"?

Brendan O'Neill wrote in The Spectator on September 3, 2015 that: "The global spreading of this snapshot — which appears on the front page of the Independent today and inside the Guardian, and is even callously being turned into a meme by sections of the weeping Twitterati — is justified as a way of raising awareness about the migrant crisis. Please. It’s more like a snuff photo for progressives, dead-child porn, designed not to start a serious debate about migration in the 21st century but to elicit a self-satisfied feeling of sadness among Western observers."

What we are being asked is to take these stories and images, syncing around the world, and put feelings upon them.

This Week

Considering the 2nd-week anniversary of the media-involved Bridgewater Plaza shootings and the 14th-year-anniversary of 9/11 are this week, what should we expect to occur in the next few days? 

I wrote in 2011, about the specific incident copycats of 9/11 here. But what are the trends telling us about now? More Batman syncs? Another live media death? Or, are the two stories above an indication that we will see and hear about more horrific child deaths? I'm sure that law enforcement agencies will be on high alert.

One thing is for certain, if it bleeds, it will lead.

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Top of blog graphic: Source.