The crime of Mocejón and the difference between dying and murder for some media

Why do certain crimes get trivialized by some media?

Spain is shocked today by the murder of an eleven-year-old boy in the town of Mocejón (Toledo) by a man.

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The information circulating at that time (the crime was committed around 10:00 a.m.) suggests that The killer wore a hood and repeatedly attacked the child with a sharp object when the child was playing football with other friends in the municipal field “Ángel Tardío”. He is said to have fled in a car, specifically an old Ford Mondeo. The Guardia Civil is trying to arrest him. I hope that the murderer is arrested and given the full sentence. My hug and condolences to the child’s familyI don't want to imagine what hell they must be going through at this moment.

One thing caught my attention in most of the news I read about this crime. For example, let's look at the headline on the website of Televisión Española (a public broadcaster funded by all taxpayers):

• “An 11-year-old boy dies after being stabbed by a masked man on a football pitch in Mocejón, Toledo.”

RTVE headlines change when murders involve a different type of victim. Let’s look at some current examples:

• July 17: “A woman murdered “Probably the fifth victim of gender-based violence in Alicante within 48 hours.”
• July 14: “Three women murdered in Salou, Sabadell and Madrid in suspected cases of gender-based violence.”
• July 6: “A woman was murdered in the municipality of Antequera in Málaga for a possible sexist crime.”

On August 6, RTVE also stated in a news report: “The Israeli army has killed four people early Tuesday morning in southern Lebanon and at least 12 more in the West Bank in the last 24 hours.” The headline changes radically when Hamas terrorists commit a massacre of unarmed civiliansRTVE reported on October 8: “At least 260 bodies were found in the desert, where a festival was taking place when Hamas started shooting.”. The verb “murder” does not appear once in the entire text of the report.

I do not know what some media know or imagine about the – still unknown – perpetrator of the Mocejón crime, but it is noticeable that in the case of a clear murder the verb ermorden is omitted in certain casesIs there a particular interest in toning down certain headlines, perhaps so that they do not cause an uproar? I understand that a child is said to “die” when he or she has suffered cardiac arrest, but not when he or she has been stabbed repeatedly. This is clearly murder.

The most amazing thing is that In Europe we are getting used to this type of crime, which used to be the exceptionIn February 2023, the newspaper El Debate reported that knife attacks in Spain had increased by 35% between 2018 and 2022. Today there was also news that a 16-year-old boy was stabbed to death in Madrid and is in serious condition. Five minors were arrested for this crime. Under normal circumstances, this should cause concern among governments and the media. Instead, we see headlines that downplay a crime so it doesn't look like murder.

What causes some media outlets to downplay certain crimes? What factor causes many media to downplay their tone when talking about these crimes while at the same time trying to raise awareness about the murders of women? Well, the reason is not difficult to guess. I can say that Israel has tolerated these types of crimes by Palestinian terrorists for years.without the vast majority of the Western media giving any importance to these stabbings. Now here we have the problem.

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Image: Google Street View. The municipal football field “Ángel Tardío” in Mocejón, where the murder of the 11-year-old boy took place.