# What demographic is driving the Natalee Holloway thing? And is this a record? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 9, 2005, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-demographic-is-driving-the-natalee-holloway-thing-and-is-this-a-record/316240 "2005-08-09T05:24:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-demographic-is-driving-the-natalee-holloway-thing-and-is-this-a-record/316240/1 "2005-08-09T05:24:16Z")
I was coasting the channels just now and fell upon a woman named Nancy Grace, a blonde woman with a really weird accent, yelling at someone with a sort-of-Dutch accent about the Natalee Holloway case. (I don’t know why I am so fascinated by the accents, but Ms. Grace’s accent is the damndest thing. Where the hell is she from?) A CNN graphic noted that this was \*\*Day 71 \*\* of the Natalee Holloway disappearance. We’ve had many threads about how bizarre it is that the Holloway case continues to be played for hours and hours, every day, for so long. (Though for some reason a lot of posters insist on calling her Valerie Holloway.) Some claim it’s because Holloway is a beautiful blonde (I don’t see how she’s beautiful, but okay.) Some have claimed racism. Some have claimed insanity. I don’t care about those things. I don’t see any reason to rehash those issues here. My questions are factual. But they’re media-related so I put them here. 1. Who, exactly, is watching this stuff? Obviously, someone out amongst the viewership is very interested in Natalee Holloway. If nobody was, they would not be providing so much Holloway coverage. Yet it seems that anyone who is moved to comment on the Holloway coverage does so to bemoan it. \*\*What demographic group is keeping the story alive? \*\* 2. Is this, in fact, a new Missing Kid Record for non-stop coverage? 71 days now. Every now and then a missing child captivates the public imagination; see Elizabeth Smart. Did her story last 71 days as a lead story, or did it drop off the lead sooner? **Has any missing kid ever matched this 71-day run, or is Natalee Holloway now the Cal Ripken Jr. of missing kid newsmakers?** ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-demographic-is-driving-the-natalee-holloway-thing-and-is-this-a-record/316240/2 "2005-08-09T06:51:44Z")
interesting question. Though I think Americans tend to blame the victim in cases of disappearances, this woman probably reminds (White suburbanite) people of their own children or neighbors. One of the “people that this should never happen to.” NBC ran a story on the news a few days ago that noted that several people of color have gone missing, but the media has been relucant to pick up these stories, even when the facts of the abduction are strikingly similar except race… ---
**Author:** ![Jpeg\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@Jpeg\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jpeg_Jones)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-demographic-is-driving-the-natalee-holloway-thing-and-is-this-a-record/316240/3 "2005-08-09T07:13:40Z")
Elian Gonzalez, we hardly knew ye. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-demographic-is-driving-the-natalee-holloway-thing-and-is-this-a-record/316240/4 "2005-08-09T07:20:37Z")
> [@Hippy Hollow](#): > > interesting question. Though I think Americans tend to blame the victim in cases of disappearances, this woman probably reminds (White suburbanite) people of their own children or neighbors. One of the “people that this should never happen to.” > > NBC ran a story on the news a few days ago that noted that several people of color have gone missing, but the media has been relucant to pick up these stories, even when the facts of the abduction are strikingly similar except race… I wonder how many less attractive people have gone missing. Bald, Fat men. Women with glasses. People who don’t look like cheerleaders. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-demographic-is-driving-the-natalee-holloway-thing-and-is-this-a-record/316240/5 "2005-08-09T13:14:06Z")
It’s not missing-kid, but every so often on a real slow news day the tabloids will **still** pull out JonBenet Ramsey. Natalee has a long way to go to beat her. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-demographic-is-driving-the-natalee-holloway-thing-and-is-this-a-record/316240/6 "2005-08-09T13:24:52Z")
Once the entertainment-oriented “news” media latch onto a story, they have to keep reporting it as if it were big even if events show otherwise, or it would look like they made a grossly irresponsible error in journalistic judgment. The Laci Peterson story is another example - it was revealed to be just another tawdry domestic violence case turned into manslaughter, like hundreds of others every year, but they had no way to let it go. The basic requirement is that the victim be white and female, and look cute in a photo. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-demographic-is-driving-the-natalee-holloway-thing-and-is-this-a-record/316240/7 "2005-08-09T13:43:39Z")
I honestly haven’t paid that much attention to the Holloway disappearance, but… isn’t this case a lot like the Schiavo case in a sense – a persistent family of the victim, who somehow keep driving the news cycle? ---
**Author:** ![Meaty\_Beaty\_Big\_and\_Bouncy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Meaty\_Beaty\_Big\_and\_Bouncy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meaty_Beaty_Big_and_Bouncy)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-demographic-is-driving-the-natalee-holloway-thing-and-is-this-a-record/316240/8 "2005-08-09T13:45:23Z")
Nancy Grace is from Atlanta, Georgia. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-demographic-is-driving-the-natalee-holloway-thing-and-is-this-a-record/316240/9 "2005-08-09T13:48:01Z")
The Chandra Levy disappearance got a long run, but of course there were all sorts of political and sexual overtones to that one. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-demographic-is-driving-the-natalee-holloway-thing-and-is-this-a-record/316240/10 "2005-08-09T13:52:18Z")
When you are on an expense account and reporting from Aruba, why not milk it for all its worth? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-demographic-is-driving-the-natalee-holloway-thing-and-is-this-a-record/316240/11 "2005-08-09T13:54:40Z")
Aruba is a small island, most of them probably figured she’d be found by now.; so they likely also think it’s going to happen any day now. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-demographic-is-driving-the-natalee-holloway-thing-and-is-this-a-record/316240/12 "2005-08-09T13:56:13Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > When you are on an expense account and reporting from Aruba, why not milk it for all its worth? You’ve nailed it. Who wants to report from Philadelphia in August? ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-demographic-is-driving-the-natalee-holloway-thing-and-is-this-a-record/316240/13 "2005-08-09T14:02:30Z")
Well, the producers decide if they should send a reporter to the story not the reporter herself. That Iranian Hostage Crisis lasted a good long time and it launched Nightline. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-demographic-is-driving-the-natalee-holloway-thing-and-is-this-a-record/316240/14 "2005-08-09T14:48:31Z")
Don’t forget that there’s a circular effect - once you give a freak like Nancy Grace a daily prime-time show, she has to basically create sensations like these in order to fill her time slot every day. ---
**Author:** ![EvilHamsterOnCrack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@EvilHamsterOnCrack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilHamsterOnCrack)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-demographic-is-driving-the-natalee-holloway-thing-and-is-this-a-record/316240/15 "2005-08-09T16:13:10Z")
> [@Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy](#): > > Nancy Grace is from Atlanta, Georgia. May I ask your point? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-demographic-is-driving-the-natalee-holloway-thing-and-is-this-a-record/316240/16 "2005-08-09T16:18:09Z")
> [@EvilHamsterOnCrack](#): > > May I ask your point? Someone asked about her accent. But one could be more specific and say that Nancy Grace is a crooked prosecutor from Atlanta. ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-demographic-is-driving-the-natalee-holloway-thing-and-is-this-a-record/316240/17 "2005-08-09T16:20:39Z")
> [@EvilHamsterOnCrack](#): > > May I ask your point? The OP asked where she was from. Are you from Atlanta or something? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Capa84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8edcca/32.png) [@Capa84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capa84)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2005, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-demographic-is-driving-the-natalee-holloway-thing-and-is-this-a-record/316240/18 "2005-08-09T17:57:25Z")
I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who thinks she isn’t the least bit cute. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-demographic-is-driving-the-natalee-holloway-thing-and-is-this-a-record/316240/19 "2005-08-10T05:41:49Z")
So is this a case of the media pushing the easy story, or in fact is there a demand for Holloway news? See, my confusion is this; I have never met anyone interested in more Holloway news. Nobody on the SDMB seems to want more Holloway coverage. Is this story playing bigger in the red states or something? Maybe because I’m from Canada, I’m not proximate to the grassroots interest in the story. It’s on again. Some talking head from CourtTV just claimed “When we don’t have Natalie’s story on, people call and complain.” Who are these people? ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Side\_of\_the\_Floyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@Dark\_Side\_of\_the\_Floyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Side_of_the_Floyd)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-demographic-is-driving-the-natalee-holloway-thing-and-is-this-a-record/316240/20 "2005-08-10T09:53:16Z")
> [@Evil Captor](#): > > The Chandra Levy disappearance got a long run, but of course there were all sorts of political and sexual overtones to that one. Didn’t the 9/11 attacks avert people’s attention from that disappearance? At least, I seem to remember it.