Swords in the news...
 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...rai-sword.html

While my heart goes out to the family affected by this kind of tragedy, seriously... does ANYONE else in the world realize that Japan is not the only country in the history of the world to have developed sword technology?

WHY do these things ALWAYS involve a "samurai sword?"

The media's job is to present the message as simply as possible for as many people as possible. It's disappointing that they stick to using the lazy alternative 'samurai sword' instead of writing something like:
Brea is alleged to have murdered his mother with a katana, or traditional Japanese sword.

I note that the media don't call revolvers 'Cowboy Guns'. :/

"samurai sword" - 13 characters (including space)
"katana, or traditional Japanese sword" - 37 characters
"revolver" - 8 characters
"cowboy gun" - 10 characters

Column inches are very, very precious in the print world. It's not a question of laziness. "Samurai sword" gets across all the necessary information, in 1/3 of the space.

Why not just "actor killed mother with sword"?

they are more likely to write "actor killed mother with Rambo knife" than "actor killed mother with knife"

makes the crime more sinister

Fuzzy

This is part of what I'm getting at - they seem terribly selective in what is specified compared with what is kept vague.

I think you're touching on the point I've got in mind. When I was in the military, my DI's told my boot camp platoon something that I noticed was very true during my years of service: when a soldier, sailor, airman, or coastie is arrested, the headline says something to the tune of "U. S. servicemember arrested for allegedly killing [fill in individual or group]. When a Marine is arrested it's more along the lines of:
UNITED STATES MARINE ARRESTED FOR MURDER

I realize that the media's job is to report the news, but it's no secret that they sensationalize it considerably to "sell" their way of telling the story for ratings, paper sales, etc. even if they are discriminatory in the process.

The other point in my mind is, when someone attacks/kills someone else using a sword, why isn't it a broadsword, jian, kris, rapier, etc. the weapon of choice? Why doesn't anyone seem to understand that there are OTHER styles of sword in the world?

The media's job is to present the message as simply as possible for as many people as possible. This is an incorrect statement. The media's job is to sell their wares, just like any other business. We can never forget this point when reading or watching anything in the public media.

Well, that's their goal. I don't know if I agree that it's their job.

They do it to give you something to b**** about. If there was a day that you didn't find something to complain about, I believe that we would have utopia. That's one of the reasons utopia is unattainable, because you always find something wrong with people everyday, no matter how ridiculous.