What's more, the "message" of the Z-M case (however the facts turn out) is that if you're a young black man walking in a middle-class gated community, you may be shot and killed by a racist white man acting for the neighborhood, who'll go free because of a controversial new gun law.

The "message" of the C-K-T case (again regardless of the details) is that if you're an innocent person who blunders, perhaps drunkenly, into a high-crime area in the middle of the night, you may be shot and killed by a sociopathic criminal.

Now, from the perspective of newspaper sales, Web hits, and ad revenues, which story is more interesting? Which "has legs"?

There are dozens of murders every day. The national media will go with the one they think is most likely to grab your attention and get your dough.

That's capitalism and a free press. Nobody said either is perfect.