Posted on 06/19/2005 10:19:51 AM PDT by Crackingham
As the search continues for Natalee Holloway in Aruba, the family of another missing woman expresses frustration. A year ago this week, a 24-year-old African-American woman named Tamika Huston of Spartanburg, S.C., was reported missing by her family. Most who know all about Holloway, probably haven't heard of Huston, although her family has tried everything it could to get national media attention.
According to FBI statistics, African-Americans and other minorities make up a larger portion of missing victims than the media represents. However, cases like Huston's often get little attention.
Huston's aunt, Rebkah Howard, who is a public relations professional, tried to develop national concern by having her family distribute fliers, hold a press conference, and create a Web site to get mass media attention, but the story was primarily ignored.
As the search continues for Holloway, who is white, an article in USA Today June 16 asks why the media doesn't show more concern about missing blacks, Hispanics and other minorities. While no one is suggesting that the media ignore Holloway's story, critics point to a trend.
Howard tells The Early Show co-anchor Hannah Storm she doesn't believe executive producers and newsroom staff consciously exclude persons of color, but notes it is important for the media to take a critical look at which cases they cover.
"What I believe is happening," Howard says, "is that networks have found a formula that has worked for them. And they tend to be about young, white attractive, middle- to upper-class women. And they continue to follow those stories. As one is resolved, they'll move on to the next one. I was met with a lot of resistance when I tried to get national attention for this case. It has been unfortunate."
Just recall the stories of Jennifer Wilbanks, the missing bride, Laci Peterson and Lori Hacking, the missing pregnant wives, and Elizabeth Smart, the young woman from Salt Lake City. They were all white, young, attractive, middle-class, American women.
As much as I hate to hear about more missing persons...this isn't the USSR. The press can choose each story on its own merits. For example...they may report more on a local drowning rather than a local shooting (for the bigger cities) because it is a bit more up lifting and such. The media has the freedom to report as many or as few of these cases as they want. So boo-fricken-hoo. :)
Well, maybe, but what's the remedy? Turn all of the cable and local channels over to 24/7 missing persons coverage, so everyone will be included?
"News" is a construct. It is whatever the media decides that it is.
Sadly this is true only a handful of missing get a full court press. Too bad, maybe they need a 24 hour missing person channel. God help these families.
Everything else is just gossip.
I think it's more about having an interesting story. Not many young women disappear from Aruba.
I personally would like to see the media do more in more of these cases, as it might help get them found. But, if it's not an interesting story the public can get interested in, they will soon drop it.
I just don't think it's a race issue. I don't see them covering stories of missing young men on any color. Is it a gender bias as well?
susie
sure they are equal, they are all missing...
telling the news what to cover and whatnot to cover is communism....
I think the lady has answered her own question. It's supposedly such an unfortunate common ocurrence in certain communities that it doesn't become a big story. Plus, if Holloway had disappeared from a college campus there would have been a spike in the news, then silence. Anyone remember the college girls disappearing in the midwest recently? I think in Wisconsin or Minnesota - see, I don't know much about them because I haven't seen it in the national news much.
It'd be nice if we could stop seeing racism behind every story.
I recommend forced quotas on the media for reporting missing minorities.
Once again people need to learn the meme, there's a reason it's called "TV News", the TV comes first. Photogenic people are more likely to wind up on TV when something interesting (bad or good) happens to them than non-photogenic people. Another big factor that plays into things is what else is going on in the world, nobody who wound up missing during the invasion of Iraq was going to wind up on TV unless it could be tied to the war in less than 6 seconds of TV time, this June has been a pretty slow news month, one of those months when the TV clowns are desperate to fill their air time (which doesn't change no matter how much or little is going on in the world) and a photogenic missing person is just what the TV ordered.
Pretty girls, especially blondes, will always more media exposure.
Exactly. The media CHOOSE what they will report. Apparently our oh-so-PC media CHOOSES to select out white middle-class women. I guess it beats reporting on the majority of missing people in this country - males.
; 0
...and it's ALL the fault of MEN. Men are the second most guilty beings...just under Bush.
"Most who know all about Holloway, probably haven't heard of Huston, although her family has tried everything it could to get national media attention."
Then maybe the MEDIA should be blamed.
WHY doesn't the MEDIA treat all missing people the same?
If this had been a black American tourist that disappeared, it would be just as big a story. Plus, Jessie Jackson would be on site, milking it for all its' worth. Jessie would walk away with a multimillion dollar beach home courtesy of the Aruban government just to get him to shut up.
Why the two face?
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