ROSSLYN, Va. – John and Patsy Ramsey told a group of Maryland journalism students Thursday that they “have developed a hatred of the media” for its coverage of the unsolved 1996 murder of their daughter, JonBenet, in their Boulder, Colo., home.
Comparing themselves to foxes hunted by dogs, the Ramseys said the media hounded them when all they wanted was to shut the world out as they mourned their 6-year-old daughter’s death.
“Just because you’re a journalist doesn’t give you carte blanche to drag (people) through the mud,” Mrs. Ramsey told the class of University of Maryland journalism students.
She shed a few tears during the nearly two-hour meeting, which included questions from the students and the working press, but the Ramseys remained calm through most of it. The meeting was sponsored by the Freedom Forum at its Newseum in Rosslyn.
JonBenet Ramsey was murdered Dec. 26, 1996. Both parents have been questioned by police, but no charges have ever been filed and the case remains unsolved. But the murder and questions surrounding the parents continues to attract extensive media attention.
USAToday reporter Blake Morrison, who teaches the reporting class, said he was pleasantly surprised that the Ramseys were willing to come and face his students. But he said he wanted the students to interview the couple so “they can appreciate what it’s like to be the subject of media coverage.”
Some students were sympathetic to what they saw as media excesses. Others said they could not blame the media for covering the Ramseys so heavily.
“I think they (the Ramseys) threw themselves into the public eye. They voluntarily injected themselves and they have to deal with the consequences that follow,” said Dina Guirguis, junior journalism major from Marlboro, N.J. “It sounds cold, but I think that’s what happened.”
The Ramseys said that reporters “scoured our background” like political candidates, calling up old boyfriends and former teachers, and that the media often distorted information or failed to confirm their stories.
They said the biggest flaw was too much “intermingling of the justice system and the media.”
“We were tried on television. (Yet, we were) never named as suspects. In the media, we were charged, tried and convicted. The justice system can’t work properly with that going on around it,” Mr. Ramsey said.
The Ramseys challenged what they called media distortions — that they are “living lavishly” in a mansion and have shown absolutely no emotional response to the murder.
“We do our grieving in private. (There’s been) a lot of tears shed, a lot of mornings when we don’t want to get out of bed,” Mr. Ramsey said. “We’re not soap opera characters, we can’t cry on cue.”
They were also upset by the constant portrayal of JonBenet as a “beauty queen” who was driven to compete by her parents.
“It’s kind of a Southern thing, the beauty pageant,” said Mrs. Ramsey, a Southerner and former pageant contestant. “People have condemned that for their own sick reasons.”
Mr. Ramsey said he understands the need for freedom of the press, but that the media goes go too far when it aims telephoto lenses at his window and pokes cameras around JonBenet’s grave.
“A man jumps out (from behind) a car with something in his hand. We don’t know if it’s a journalist or a nutcase,” Mrs. Ramsey said.
The couple singled out the Denver Post, accusing the paper of opinionated, “heartless” coverage. “Colorado hates us,” Mrs. Ramsey said. “By and large, the media out there manipulated the balance.”
Frank Scandale, the Post’s managing editor of news, defended the paper Thursday, saying its “overall coverage of the Ramsey murder and investigation has been fair and accurate throughout.”
Despite all the criticism, the Ramseys said they appreciated coverage of some organizations such as Newsweek and The Rocky Mountain News.
Some students said the story will serve as a reminder to them to be more careful in their reporting.
“How did they make so many mistakes?” said Esther D. Sim, a junior journalism from Laurel, Md. “I hope that journalists will be more ethical. And I hope I can be one of them.”
Mrs. Ramsey urged the students, “Don’t give up your principles.” Referring to the headlines that she said have accused her of murder, Mrs. Ramsey said she would like to see “150 headlines the same size, same color (that say), `Parents are nice.'”
But the Ramseys are looking for more than just an apology.
“I’m a big believer in financial accountability. These are for-profit organizations. This is where accountability sinks in,” Mr. Ramsey said.