As Alex Murdaugh is sentenced to life in prison for murdering two family members, Michael M. DeWitt, Jr. in the Greenville News, March 15, 2023, writes, “The Murdaugh saga is a sweeping epic of generations of power and entitlement that led to outright crime and corruption, but on a deeper level it is also a testament to the power of the South Carolina press and the need to support local journalism.” In investigating financial and drug crimes and unsolved homicides, the local press kept a harsh spotlight on Murdaugh, exposing the sometimes failure of law enforcement to produce both public records and indictments. With its knowledge of local history and culture and the people involved, the local press even provided assistance to national and international outlets investigating the story. DeWitt writes that the press played a huge role in bringing accountability to a family and its institutional allies who got away with heinous deeds for decades.
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