Repeatedly over the last few weeks, I’ve been asked for my impressions of Murder Mountain, the six-part docuseries looking at Humboldt County’s cannabis industry released on Netflix last month. The short answer? It isn’t worth your time.
At this point, you’ve probably seen that the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office has blasted the series as a “one-sided” and “highly sensationalized,” saying it relied on “biased sources” when piecing together the story of Garret Rodriguez, a San Diego man found in a shallow grave in Alderpoint after a vigilante group tortured his alleged murderer until he led them to where he’d buried Rodriguez’s body. The series cast Humboldt County in a “dark light,” the sheriff’s office said.
You may have also heard from folks putting their all into making the regulated recreational cannabis industry work for them. Just last week, one of them sat in my office and lamented the inclusion of Jason Dookie, whom the series documented celebrating receipt of a county cultivation permit by taking bong rips behind the wheel of his car in the planning department parking lot. (The series also showed him reneging on a contract and later bragging about physically beating an employee.) That’s not a good look for a black market industry trying to recast itself as buttoned up and professional.
Personally, I think sunlight is the best antiseptic. While Dookie’s behavior is the antithesis of what Humboldt County’s cannabis industry should aspire to, it’s real and shouldn’t be ignored or swept under a rug.
But that hits at the crux of my Murder Mountain problem: Too little of it is real. At least it’s hard to know exactly what’s real and what isn’t.
As the news editor of the Journal, I’m keenly aware that journalism is based on trust. If you catch me playing fast and loose with the basic facts of the story, how are you going to trust that I haven’t left out crucial information, let alone that the anonymous source I quote is, in fact, a living, breathing person whose views I’ve represented accurately? If I abuse your trust, you probably won’t believe anything else I have to say.
In my view, that’s where Murder Mountain falls, and falls hard.
In the first episode, the series notes Humboldt County’s high rate of missing person reports and repeatedly flashes the cover image from our Feb. 1, 2018, story, “The Humboldt 35.” But while the series quotes someone breathlessly pondering whether there is a serial killer on the loose in Humboldt, it fails to offer any deep analysis of why people go missing here at an alarming rate or the flaws in the systems that track them. Analysis, after all, is complex and nuanced. The sensational prospect of a serial killer, on the other hand, is gripping.
There’s the Eureka police officer the filmmakers capture eyeing a bus stop and warning of how people arrive in town only to be met by a swarm of human sharks, waiting to mug or traffic them. Perhaps I’m naïve but I’ve been reporting the news in Humboldt County for more than 15 years at this point, and I can’t recall a single story about any such occurrence.
Just because someone says something that sounds scary doesn’t mean it warrants reporting. Verification, after all, is one of the tenets of good reporting.
Then there’s a host of little things. Take, for example, a brief montage of shots the filmmakers offer as a part of its timeline of the Rodriguez case in December of 2013. They flash the date, followed by an image of the Journal‘s “The Humboldt 35” cover, then a poster demanding justice for David Josiah Lawson. Again, that Journal cover was printed in 2018. Lawson was fatally stabbed in April of 2017, in a case that has absolutely nothing to do with missing persons or cannabis. This montage was about manipulating viewers’ emotions, not a factual narrative.
These are just a few of many examples of choices the filmmakers made that combined to shatter my trust and leave me questioning virtually every other aspect of the series, from the dramatic reenactments to the anonymous sources. And that’s a shame.
The Rodriguez case is real and warrants real, thorough and responsible coverage. Our missing persons epidemic is real, and warrants real, thorough and responsible coverage. The historic violence and environmental destruction of the cannabis industry are real and warrant real, thorough and responsible coverage. And the county’s current painful transition toward a regulated industry is real, and warrants real, thorough and responsible coverage.
Murder Mountain fails to deliver on any of these. I suspect that’s partly because the filmmakers were much more focused on telling a compelling story than an accurate one. Perhaps the biggest shame of all is there’s no reason we couldn’t have had both.
Thadeus Greenson is the Journal’s news editor. Reach him at 442-1400, extension 321, or thad@northcoastjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @thadeusgreenson.
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This article appears in The Health and Wellness Issue 2019.
15 years of covering local news and can’t recall a single story about sex trafficking eh? There is this story from 1 whole month ago.
https://lostcoastoutpost.com/2018/dec/18/eureka-police-arrest-man-human-trafficking-sexual/
The Murder mountain series actually did give an analysis of how so many people can and have disappeared here. They pointed out the huge area of steep rugged terrain, the annual influx of temporary residents, and the areas general appeal to those who WISH to disappear from society. Did you actually watch the show?
Then you go on to tell us that you dont ever leave out crucial facts to a story because journalism requires trust from its readership, and we might never trust you again if you didn’t tell the whole story.
Here’s some news for you. We don’t trust you, or any other journalist for that matter.
Journalism isn’t about reporting facts anymore. Its about creating stories, twisting truths, and pushing agendas. And you and the Journal are no diffrent. People read your bs for same reasons we read any other newspaper or watch television news. For entertainment value.
Entertainment value.
I absolutely agree! Murder Mountain was a great docuseries. It exposed a part of the pervasive pattern of corruption that exists within the Humboldt County Sheriffs Office.
See the comments located at the bottom of this story: https://m.northcoastjournal.com/humboldt/t…
In my opinion, the comments are evidence of censorship and deceit by Thadeus Greenson.
Jermaine-
I did censor your comments because they were off topic and accused people of crimes. While you have a First Amendment right to free speech, we as a company have a right to manage our comments section in a manner consistent with our values and policies. I’m not saying you can’t rant off topic or make wild accusations, I’m just saying you can’t do it on the Journal’s website.
Professor, the point made in the column was that I can’t recall a single instance of someone arriving in town on a bus only to be immediately trafficked or mugged by waiting predators, as the officer suggested is commonplace. Obviously human trafficking exists in our community.
As to your views on journalism and journalists, that’s a shame. I read newspapers for information, believing an informed citizenry is essential to a functioning democracy. An entertained citizenry? Not so much.
I am currently watching this series on Netflix. I am starting episode 5 this evening.
While I admit one can take different aspects of the show and make a case for any number of issues, the more important point is that the program is inaccurate on so many key points they are not even worth mentioning here.
I moved to the area in 1989. My house and 40 acres are a short drive from the Nonagon. I was the Music Director at KMUD as well as a programmer for many years. I was a volunteer fire fighter and first responder in the area. I have also worked as a real estate agent in Southern Humboldt/Northern Mendocino. Hell, I was even on the Board of Directors for Little League.
I had never heard of the area being called Murder Mountain. It was always known as Rauncho. But, I am assuming that was not sexy enough for the title of the show. Because of the very title, I think all should be circumspect before jumping to any judgements.
I will wait until I finish the show in its entirety before coming to some final conclusions.
A couple of things jump out though:
It is painful to watch so many of the locals involved in the program take on the sensationalized point of view of the director.
If you are such a good person, good friend to many and a good son, why in the hell would you get involved with a known violent drug addict when so much money was at stake in illegal activity?
And, why is there so much anger and blame directed at law enforcement in the show? Pot was illegal until recently.
Folks in the hills in Southern Humboldt depended upon the cops not doing their jobs by letting them grow weed. Nearly everyone got away with it. It is self righteous to hold them to a high standard in this case when everyone counted on them to not do their jobs adequately for so long.