In loving memory of Andrew and Fausto

I wanted to dedicate this blog to the two young men that lost their lives in an accident caused by a drunk driver on April 10th this year. While their car broke down on the express way in Chicago, an off-duty Chicago Police Officer was speeding and hit this car at full speed. The hit caused the victims' car to blow up and burst into flames while they were still inside.

I was amazed by the amount of news that was dedicated to this tragedy. It was mainly because it was a Chicago Police Officer that caused the accident while he was drunk. The media exposed how this police officer had a past in reckless driving.

But there were also news articles that stated false accusations about the two victims. That really bothered me. I believe that as journalists we need to expose the truth and expose facts, not rumors.

They stated that the two victims were gang members. I personally knew this victims. One worked as a full time construction worker and the other one was a student at DePaul University in Chicago. They were also both very talented artists. They have never been members of gangs, they were two very bright and intelligent men. I thought that these articles were very biased and they definitely stereotyped these victims.

What I also found to be very unfair was that the drunk driver that caused this accident was only given a $500,000 bail (since they only have to pay 10% he only had to pay $50,000). Yet there was another drunk driving case that same weekend and the victim also passed away. The victim in this accident was a professional baseball player. The drunk driver's bond was 2 million dollars. I just think this shows the flaws in our justice system.

But I am pleased that this case has moved so many people to take action. There have been a number of protests against drinking and driving. My mom was also lost her life because of a drunk driver. I personally think that our justice system needs to step up and do something about this.

This case was so devastating and I believe that our news coverage was good, but there were those few articles that really bothered me because the two victims of these accidents were amazing individuals that definitely did not deserve such a tragic death.