Reporters from America's leading daily press and cable networks flooded into New Haven, Connecticut last week, following the news of the discovery of murdered Yale grad student, Annie Le's body, hidden inside a wall in a campus building where she worked. With the latest development that Raymond Clark III was arrested and charged with Le's murder yesterday morning, the level of attention the story has received from national, as well as international press does not appear to be letting up anytime soon.

Credit goes to the university's own student news website, The Yale Daily News, partner to the college's newspaper, which has been praised as being one of the best sources for information throughout this tragic series of events, for its unsensational and accurate daily online reports. In another commitment to journalistic ethics, the New Haven Independent chose not to name suspect Raymond Clark III before he was arrested and charged, referring to him as the "person of interest" instead, and only supplying details that would not lead the public to him.

To date, the New York Times has published five articles concerning the victim's disappearance and murder, as well as a number on suspect Raymond Clark III. The Boston Globe has published no less than six stories concerning the case, and the Washington Post has run at least three briefs from the Associated Press. In the U.K., pieces on the case have appeared almost daily, particularly in the Times. Tabloids are also in on the act, with specific interest coming from New York's the Post and the Daily News.

The grave nature of a case such as this will always generate a high level of interest, but Jack Shafer at Slate argues that when reporting, American journalists seem to observe a rule of thumb: "Three murders at a Midwestern college equal one murder at Harvard or Yale." He qualifies this by citing numerous other notorious Yale and Harvard murders, including that of student Justin Cosby at Harvard earlier this year, Yale sophomore Christian Prince, and Yale senior, Susan Jovin - all of which received a high level of media coverage.

Those in favour of the level of coverage Annie Le's case has attracted argue that the case is of specific interest, owing to the fact that the victim was reported missing and her body discovered on the day she was due to be married. Furthermore, the bizarre profession of the suspect (a laboratory technician cleaning animals' cages) elevates the story from tragic news story to a real life murder mystery - however morbid that may seem.

Yet Shafer feels that murders at Ivy League institutions really do profit from an increased level of interest, unjust though this may be: "All murders are equal; it's just that press treats Harvard and Yale murders as more equal" writes Slate. But what are the reasons Slate attributes to this?

Some feel that Harvard and Yale murders merit preferential treatment because those universities occupy exceptional places in the country's institutional history. Then there's the alleged "even at Harvard?" effect, owing to the fact that these particular universities are situated in some of the country's most exclusive areas. Shafer also admits that: "At Slate, no Harvard or Yale story proposal will ever be laughed out of a story meeting, no matter how mundane." Shafer also notes a distinction between the ways in which more highbrow publications and tabloid publications treat stories of this nature: "Members of the elite press identify with Harvard and Yale--even if they didn't go there" whereas tabloid publications have "always taken special joy in showcasing the pain of the high-and-mighty."

First and foremost the tragic murder of Annie Le has received wide spread media attention because it is just that: a tragedy. However, perhaps an abundance of stories concerning the horrific murder of a gifted student at one of the world's most prestigious institutions at a time that newsprint is in peril, is perhaps a small, but not insignificant factor, in the effort to explain quite the level of interest currently surrounding this case.

Source: Slate