For starters, I hope she and her child are OK. I fear not, but there is still hope.
But…
Why is this a national story? Why? Why?
I understand the pregnancy adds to the poignancy of the story, that explains some of it. But it doesn’t explain the three women in Oregon last month, the woman and her daughter (and the daughters friend) who were missing in some California national park a few months ago, Jon Benet, etc.
All female, all white, all national stories.
Why are missing black people, missing hispanic people, missing old people, missing ugly people, missing fat people, and the like never reported nationally? Do people only kill/kidnap white women, or is it only news when a white woman is killed/kidnapped? Of course, it’s not ALL white women who get the full-bore treatment: the chances of being a national case is greatly enhanced by the victims photogenic qualities and how well they look on TV. My wife also noticed that these stories tend to deal with people who are well-off and/or well-connected to the media/politico’s.
In short, if you are not good-looking, white, and female and somebody kidnaps your ass - fuggit aboud it: we don’t care!
I live in the PNW, and when anyone…ANYONE goes missing here, it is news. It is publicized to the max, as near as I can tell. It may not make the national news, but we sure know about it here.
Also as near as I can tell, it doesn’t matter what race or socio-economic group these missing people belong in…or how photogenic you are…if you are missing, it is broadcasted.
Well, Scotti, I think he’s talking about the national media. I think the OP may actually have a point. If you put “missing” into CNN.com’s Search, and tell it to sort by Relevance, of the first 150 hits that deal with people “missing” in the sense of “not being where they’re supposed to be”, as opposed to “missing because their planes were shot down or they were lost in an avalanche or shipwreck”, all of them deal with missing younger women, and teens and children. However, not all of the articles had pictures of the missing person, so I suppose it’s safe to assume that some of them might have been black, or fat, but when it’s a child or teen that’s missing, I don’t think the media cares. I didn’t see any specifically “fat” or “old” or “black” missing persons who generated anywhere near the same amount of media coverage that “missing young women” and “missing children” and “missing teens” did.
I didn’t see any articles offhand about any “missing elderly person”, and I found only one that I recognized as being a “missing black person”.
Television news is a form of entertainment. They give people what they want to see. Probably dozens of people a day go missing in this country, 100s are murdered or killed in some tragic accident. The media can’t cover them all, so they cover the ones that the public is most interested in seeing. Would you have the media go out of business by covering stories that no one wants to see or read about simply because they felt they had to be “fair”?
And of course the Erving story was only reported because of the celebrity status of his father… same thing with Bill Cosby’s kid a few years ago.
On another board where I posted this, one person noted that “It (the news) is about selling advertisement space, and the people who are being aimed for by the advertisers are in general well off and white…”
I see what you mean…I don’t really watch the national news much, so I was just going by our regional news…which DID publicize the missing Vancouver ladies quite extensively…and also any other missing persons.
There was also MUCH discussion about whether or not the missing Vancouver women weren’t being investigated vigorously enough because of who they were or if the investigation was stymied by the fact that they tended to have transient lifestyles and some had several identities and that sort of thing. I don’t know enough about it to have an opinion, but I did see one show where a detective on the case explained some of the difficulties they were experiencing because of these things, and she seemed very concerned about finding these women.
My point is, er was, that the ‘media’ by which I mean the news media, is a profit driven industry, and therefore it seeks to serve its market as best it can. Frankly, a missing 8 month pregnant woman from suburbia is a more interesting story than some missing crack-head. Is the crack-head less of a person? Of course not, and I would hope that the police would investigate both with equal vigor. However, were I a producer for news programming I have no doubt I would give more coverage to the pregnant woman simply because it is more likely to capture the imagination of my audience. If news on television devoted the same time to every missing person, no one would watch, advertising would dry up, and there would be no news on tv. That, I guess, is my senario.
Upon rereading the OP I am no longer sure if JohnT is upset that the nation doesn’t care about non-white missing people, or if he is upset that the media doesn’t care enought to provide equal coverage.
It isn’t important to the survival of the nation, or national policy, or world affairs, but it is NATIONAL news by virtue of the fact that the national news media has deemed it to be so. Being a news worthy story does not equal important.
Elizabeth Smart is still MISSING - F-ing Media, I haven’t heard anymore about her, and her status, What Happened to Her?
Anyone (Adult or Child) who is missing, however that happens, needs to be brought attention to it so they can be found, whether that is local or national news.
My heart goes out to people who are missing, and I hope they get found safe and sound, but the majority of them are found dead, and/or worse.
Don Wiley did. He was one of several scientists whose disappearances were taken by some people to be signs of a terrorist conspiracy, even though his employers pointed out that his work in no way related to bio-terrorism.
I remember having discussions with people in my office (3000 miles away and not connected to scientific research) about the meaning of Wiley’s disappearance.
News stories need a hook – whether it’s a possible terrorist connection, a celebrity, or a very pregnant woman disappearing. As long as it’s something that people will continue to care about and tune in to hear about, the media will cover it.
Elizabeth Smart was featured as the missing person at the end of an episode of Without A Trace recently. They show the picture and info for a real missing person at the end of each episode. That gave a little bit of renewed publicity to the case. Unfortunately, the public has a short attention span (except, inexplicably, where O.J. Simpson and Jon-Benet Ramsey are concerned.)
Can’t everyone see that Laci kidnapped herself? Look at her husband, he really looks like a first class prick. Maybe she is running with a group of nihilists and the Dude and Walter need to come out of retirement to offer a ransom of more fresh dirty drawers to free this poor white woman and her unborn child.
Maybe we will see a little toe in the mail.
I’m not Columbo or even Deputy Dog, but lets take a look at the guilt or innocence of asshole (husband)
1.He has a girlfriend.
2.He bought a life insurance policy.
3.He went fishing on Christmas Eve (what do Californians have salmon for Christmas dinner)?
4.No one else would harm this woman and make her disappear. Yes, there are maniacs, serial killers and the like, but the truth is that one is much more likely to get killed by a “loved one” than a nut.
Maybe Laci was abducted by aliens. Better yet, who really gives a shit?