2008 Woodie Awards
Bolivar murder near but unrelated to SBU
Chris Stroud
Issue date: 10/26/07 Section: Forum
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John Michael Loomis, 22, of Bolivar was charged with first degree murder in the death of 19-year-old Christopher R. Cornell. Police found Cornell's body in the back of his pickup at 906 S. Pike St. near Southwest Baptist University. Josiellena Schaefer, 22, was charged with abandoning a corpse.
The reporting of the apparent murder of Chris Cornell on Oct. 19 has unfortunately left many with the perception that the incident is related to the SBU campus.
Carlos Correa of KOLR channel 10 started the confusion during his Sunday report on the incident. This was followed up by reports by Ashley Ritchie and Michelle Sherwood of KSPR channel 33.
This resulted in SBU issuing a press release explaining that there is no connection between the school and this incident.
Correa got the ball rolling saying "…authorities found Cornell's body near the Southwest Baptist University campus."
He then conducted an interview with a student from SBU that could have left the impression that the apparent homicide and University were related.
The SBU student says, "I think it's sad because SBU is a good college. They got some good people, faculty, staff and student wise. It's just an unfortunate event that somebody has to try and do something and most people are good people, and they have to end up having one bad apple spoils the bunch."
Correa then continues saying that "[The student] is a student at SBU and never thought something like this would happen so close to school."
Ritchie then further muddles the situation by incorrectly identifying the apartment complex stating that the suspects "left Cornell's body in the parking lot of these college apartments" as Sherwood in a related article says that the victim was found "near Southwest Baptist University, in the 900 block of South Pike."
This part while under Sherwood's byline was read by news anchor Christine Daues. To be fair to Sherwood, she could have mentioned the University to give viewers a reference point to where in Bolivar this happened.
The reporting of the apparent murder of Chris Cornell on Oct. 19 has unfortunately left many with the perception that the incident is related to the SBU campus.
Carlos Correa of KOLR channel 10 started the confusion during his Sunday report on the incident. This was followed up by reports by Ashley Ritchie and Michelle Sherwood of KSPR channel 33.
This resulted in SBU issuing a press release explaining that there is no connection between the school and this incident.
Correa got the ball rolling saying "…authorities found Cornell's body near the Southwest Baptist University campus."
He then conducted an interview with a student from SBU that could have left the impression that the apparent homicide and University were related.
The SBU student says, "I think it's sad because SBU is a good college. They got some good people, faculty, staff and student wise. It's just an unfortunate event that somebody has to try and do something and most people are good people, and they have to end up having one bad apple spoils the bunch."
Correa then continues saying that "[The student] is a student at SBU and never thought something like this would happen so close to school."
Ritchie then further muddles the situation by incorrectly identifying the apartment complex stating that the suspects "left Cornell's body in the parking lot of these college apartments" as Sherwood in a related article says that the victim was found "near Southwest Baptist University, in the 900 block of South Pike."
This part while under Sherwood's byline was read by news anchor Christine Daues. To be fair to Sherwood, she could have mentioned the University to give viewers a reference point to where in Bolivar this happened.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
M.H.
posted 10/26/07 @ 7:42 AM CST
This is a sad incident for all of Bolivar. Murder! But this also shows how the general Media has evolved into an entertainment and "Shock Factor" outlet. (Continued…)
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