Digital Press International » Readers “Sick and Tired” of Pistorius’s “Relentless Self Pity”

Thursday, April 18, 2024

Readers “Sick and Tired” of Pistorius’s “Relentless Self Pity”

WASHINGTON, D.C. April 15 (DPI) — The highest-rated reader comment on the British tabloid site DailyMail.co.uk affirms a widely held view that South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius is overdoing it with his emotional courtroom outbursts, which one reader called “relentless self-pity.”

A reader identifying himself from Liverpool, England, declared “I am sick and tired of this man’s relentless self pity He is not the victim here.” The brief comment received nearly 3500 upvotes on the
site, which gathers, re-packages and sensationalizes crimes and celebrity activity around the world.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2604942/Oscar-Pistorius-describes-moment-shoulder-charged-toilet-door-cocked-gun-hand-shooting-Reeva.html

Pistorius, a celebrity in a his country for his exploits as a para-olympian, was charged last year in the shooting death of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. His murder trial, initiated in early April, is expected to last another month.

Meanwhile, internet posts reflect irritation among the public – in the US, the UK and even South Africa – over Pistorius’s constant emotional outbursts in court. The Wall Street Journal site is one of the few US news sites to attach comment boards to its news items related to the case:

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303663604579501051860917722

(4 Recommendations) I’ve had enough with the crying. Throw him in prison for the rest of his natural life.

(3 Recs) He’s providing a very clear and convincing picture of himself as a man who is emotionally unstable and unable to control his emotions. Just the type to lose it and shoot someone hiding in a locked bathroom. What is the penalty for 2nd degree murder in South Africa? 20-30 years? or less?

Another reader on WSJ.com says Pistorius is likely to get off with a light sentence:

I suspect he will get a slap on the wrist with a little jail time just to show the system works. This is South Africa….white citizens get preferential treatment. The country is a mess.

The New York Times has steered clear of allowing reader comments to articles related to the Pistorius Case:

www.nytimes.com/2014/04/10/world/africa/oscar-pistorius-murder-trial.html

www.nytimes.com/2014/04/09/world/africa/oscar-pistorius-trial.html