"Megan Wants a Millionaire" Tragedy

On Saturday (8/22/09) VH1's television show "Megan Wants a Millionaire" was unexpectedly stricken from the cable station's rotation after only a couple of episodes. Television shows receive cancellation from time to time, sometimes without notice, but this one has a horrible twist involving murder and suicide. Given the high-profile nature of this situation, news channels are bound to be all over they story.

"Megan Wants a Millionaire" centered on Megan Hauserman, of "reality" show fame (you may have seen her in "Beauty and the Geek," "Rock of Love," or "I Love Money"), and her attempt to land a millionaire beau. There were seventeen candidates and recent reports indicate that one of them, Ryan Alexander Jenkins, murdered his ex-wife, Jasmine Fiore.

According to police reports, after killing Jasmine Fiore, Jenkins disfigured the body to prevent identification by removing her teeth and cutting off her fingers. Police were able to identify Fiore, however, by using the serial numbers of her breast implants.

This was an unexpected and tragic twist to what should have been a light-hearted and mindless reality program. The tragedy grew deeper, however, when it was discovered that Ryan Jenkins committed suicide in Canada.

The whole ordeal is a dark mess, but one has to commend VH1 for their decision to pull the plug on "Megan Wants a Millionaire." The production company behind the show, 51 Minds, has admitted to not conducting a thorough enough background search on the contestants.

The story of Ryan Jenkins murdering Jasmine Fiore and then killing himself would be newsworthy in and of itself, especially given the horrific mutilation and his escape to Canada, but the "Megan Wants a Millionaire" aspect of the story is going to provide a circus-like atmosphere to a deeply grave situation.

Should the media give a story like this extra attention because of the unusual circumstances? On one hand, people have the right to know what is happening. Freedom of press is, obviously, one of the most basic and valued rights given to the American public. But the fact is, given the high profile nature of this story in pop culture, the media hounds are going to be all over it. This story will dominate the news and one has to wonder if it should. It has been reported and, by now, most people are probably aware of what happened.

The news channels are built around sensationalizing stories, yet this one is sensational enough. Are we going to see interviews with Jenkins' neighbors and childhood classmates? Will there be forensic personnel appearing on Nancy Grace's show? Are the details going to be a continous feed on the bottom of CNN?

News is important. We need to keep abreast of current events to understand our world, but this story is sure to receive an absurd amount of attention. The fact that Jenkins was a contestant on a VH1 reality show makes it a foregone conclusion.

VH1, as a network, has offered a simple statement and removed the show from the air. This is a responsible decision. The crime Ryan Jenkins committed was absolutely atrocious. Here's hoping the news channels follow VH1's suit and do not try to cram this horrible story down the viewers' throats.