Somehow Mackenzie Shirilla’s parents come across almost as bad as their killer daughter in ‘The Crash’
New York Post
Overall Assessment
The article adopts a highly judgmental and sensational tone, framing the tragedy as a moral indictment of parenting and influencer culture. It omits key facts about threats, mental state, and legal developments, relying on selective footage and opinion. Victims and broader context are marginalized in favor of a provocative, emotionally charged narrative.
"wannabe TikTok star Shirilla"
Loaded Adjectives
Headline & Lead 20/100
The headline and lead sensationalize the tragedy by centering a provocative moral judgment about the parents, using wordplay and loaded comparisons that distort the core event—a fatal crash resulting in murder convictions.
✕ Loaded Labels: The headline frames the story around parental failure rather than the crime, the victims, or systemic issues, using emotionally charged language ('almost as bad as their killer daughter') that presumes moral equivalence between parents and convicted murderer.
"Somehow Mackenzie Shirilla’s parents come across almost as bad as her killer daughter in ‘The Crash’"
✕ Sensationalism: The lead uses a pun ('crash course') to mock parenting, immediately setting a judgmental and irreverent tone that undermines the gravity of two deaths.
"This is a crash course on how not to parent."
Language & Tone 20/100
The tone is deeply unobjective, filled with editorializing, loaded language, and personal mockery, transforming a news piece into a polemic.
✕ Loaded Adjectives: The article uses consistently derogatory language: 'hell on wheels', 'wannabe TikTok star', 'bratty attitude', 'jackass'—all serving to demean rather than inform.
"wannabe TikTok star Shirilla"
✕ Loaded Labels: The term 'killer daughter' is used without quotation or attribution, presenting a legally contested label as fact.
"her killer daughter"
✕ Editorializing: The writer inserts personal judgment: 'the word jackass came to mind', violating neutrality.
"The word jackass came to mind."
✕ Passive-Voice Agency Obfuscation: Passive voice obscures agency in describing Shirilla’s actions: 'took out two lives' instead of 'killed two people', softening the violence.
"It’s a shame she took out two lives in the process."
✕ Dog Whistle: The phrase 'Meanwhyile' appears to be a typo for 'Meanwhile', but reads like a loaded pun ('mean while'), amplifying the mocking tone.
"Meanwhyile, Shirilla has gained a reputation in prison"
Balance 20/100
The article exhibits severe source imbalance, relying on one-sided documentary footage and opinion, with no input from legal experts, mental health professionals, or victims’ families.
✕ Single-Source Reporting: The article relies entirely on the documentary’s portrayal and the writer’s opinion, with no direct sourcing from prosecutors, defense, or neutral experts. Parents’ statements are presented without challenge, while Shirilla’s perspective is ridiculed.
✕ Source Asymmetry: Victims’ families are mentioned only through the judge’s rebuke of the mother, not through their own voices or statements, denying them narrative presence.
"Davion … he’s a new friend,” she said."
✕ Vague Attribution: The Shirillas’ quotes are included but not contextualized with counterpoints from legal or psychological experts, creating an unbalanced portrayal that amplifies their worst moments.
"I don’t have a problem with her smoking dope."
Story Angle 25/100
The story is framed as a moral fable about parenting failure and narcissism, sidelining legal, psychological, and social dimensions in favor of a simplistic, judgmental narrative.
✕ Moral Framing: The article frames the entire story as a morality tale about bad parenting, ignoring other legitimate angles such as mental health, domestic violence dynamics, or legal process.
"At its core, 'The Crash' is a portrait of horrible parenting."
✕ Narrative Framing: It reduces a complex case with evidence of threats and possible motive into a narrative of narcissism and poor upbringing, sidelining systemic or psychological factors.
"Like many, Shirilla dreamed of having legions of followers, but what did she have to offer?"
✕ Episodic Framing: The story is episodic—focused only on the crash and documentary—without connecting to broader patterns of teen violence, coercive control, or legal precedents.
Completeness 25/100
The article lacks essential factual and legal context, omitting key evidence about Shirilla’s mental state, threats, and ongoing appeals, while reducing the story to a shallow cultural critique.
✕ Omission: The article omits critical context: Shirilla’s prior texts accusing Russo of trying to kill her, his attempts to break up due to threats, and her documented threats of self-harm and violence—key facts that inform motive and state of mind.
✕ Omission: It fails to mention that doctors observed Shirilla displaying 'grief, guilt and shame' upon waking—directly contradicting the article’s portrayal of her as narcissistic and unrepentant.
✕ Omission: No mention of Shirilla’s appeal or post-conviction relief petition, which are relevant to the ongoing legal process and public understanding of the case.
✕ Decontextualised Statistics: The article presents influencer culture as the central moral flaw without exploring psychological, legal, or social dimensions of the case, reducing a complex tragedy to a cultural critique.
"The Crash also exposed the vapidity and narcissism of influencer culture."
Parents portrayed as deeply irresponsible and morally corrupt
The article uses loaded language and selective portrayal to frame the parents as fundamentally negligent and untrustworthy, emphasizing their lack of remorse and inappropriate behavior.
"Parents Natalie and Steve Shirilla — who, incredibly, is a teacher — were so indulgent and foolish, even my tweenage niece was disgusted by them."
Influencer culture framed as narcissistic and destructive
The article dismisses Shirilla’s motivations as rooted in shallow fame-seeking, using moralizing language to condemn influencer culture broadly without nuance.
"The Crash also exposed the vapidity and narcissism of influencer culture."
Female behavior pathologized and scapegoated through gendered stereotypes
The framing emphasizes Shirilla’s narcissism, vanity, and romantic entanglements in a way that aligns with sexist tropes about young women, particularly in the context of crime and media obsession.
"There she is in a bikini walking into a body of water, or making kissy faces as she sits in the car with Russo..."
The article adopts a highly judgmental and sensational tone, framing the tragedy as a moral indictment of parenting and influencer culture. It omits key facts about threats, mental state, and legal developments, relying on selective footage and opinion. Victims and broader context are marginalized in favor of a provocative, emotionally charged narrative.
This article is part of an event covered by 3 sources.
View all coverage: "Netflix documentary 'The Crash' revisits 2022 Ohio crash that killed two young men, sparking renewed public discussion"A Netflix documentary explores the 2022 crash in which Mackenzie Shirilla, then 17, drove into a wall at high speed, killing two passengers. Convicted of murder, Shirilla’s actions and her parents’ permissive upbringing are scrutinized, alongside broader questions about youth, accountability, and social media influence.
New York Post — Other - Crime
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