Posted on 08/08/2005 9:01:19 AM PDT by Crackingham
As Melvin Figueroa taped up yet another faded photograph of his missing daughter, this time to the wall of a corner grocery in West Philadelphia, 7-year-old Jonathan Medina watched him with somber curiosity.
"You looking for her everywhere?" Jonathan asked.
Mr. Figueroa nodded, his T-shirt, bearing another likeness of his daughter, sticking to his sweat-soaked chest. "Got to," he said. "We have to go everywhere we can think of. Maybe somebody saw something."
After weeks of frustrating obscurity, the case of Mr. Figueroa's daughter, Latoyia Figueroa, 25, has finally captured the national news media's attention, spurred by the persistent nudging of Philadelphia-based Web logs and a city councilman distantly related to the Figueroas.
In the process, the case has become a flashpoint for the growing unease in minority communities across the country about the way they believe many national news outlets focus relentlessly on missing white women, while giving little attention to equally compelling stories involving poorer minority women.
SNIP
"You just had to listen to the simple facts of the story to realize that there was something seriously wrong here," said Richard Blair, who runs a Philadelphia-based political blog, allspinzone.com, writing under the name Richard Cranium.
"The fact is, this issue of news organizations' obsessive coverage of missing white women has been simmering in the blogosphere for a while now," Mr. Blair said.
What the Figueroa case has done, he said, is give people something on which to focus their attention.
"When black women disappear, the media silence can be deafening," began an article in the June issue of Essence magazine, which chronicled cases of eight missing black women.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
No doubt this is true.
"After weeks of frustrating obscurity, the case of Mr. Figueroa's daughter, Latoyia Figueroa, 25, has finally captured the national news media's attention, spurred by the persistent nudging of Philadelphia-based Web logs and a city councilman distantly related to the Figueroas."
***
I've been hearing about this story for some time, so I don't think it was "obscure" for very long.
Here's the requirements for media coverage in a dissapearance case.
1. Be white
2. Be female
3. Be attractive
4. Be somewhere the media wants to go (e.g, Aruba)
3. Be attractive.
Well, that one Runway Bride was pretty nasty looking.
I actually do know the answer. Ratings are through the roof on shows about her. Greta is the top audience getter now. That confounds me even more.
She's dead.
(If what I just wrote makes you sad or angry,
Indeed confounding that the public is so obsessed with the Aruban mystery. Pure media-generated hype.
She's beating BOR in the ratings with wall to wall Natalee. That's why.
"Here's the requirements for media coverage"
I'd throw in a "sex angle" as a criteria and if it's someone with name recognition. Peterson, OJ, Condit
"Pure media-generated hype."
And Fox is one of the worst. Fox news alert my butt.
"I mean, by now, it's a miracle that even the Holloway family hasn't gotten sick and tired of this."
***
Actually, I think the family has a lot to do with why the Holloway case has received so much attention. The mother, Mrs. Twitty, herself seems to be everywhere, and I don't think she would be if she had not put herself in the spotlight.
Seems to me the family thrives on the media spotlight.
I have to agree with this. During the first days of the Iraq war when Jessica Lynch was rescued the national media was obsessed with her story. In the meantime we had another woman(Shoshanna Johnson) who was in her unit who was being held captive along with a few of her male soldiers and we only heard a little about her. The woman was black and I guess the media sadly assumed we were not as interested in her. The sad part is even her Iraqi captors made the observation that she is a very strong woman. Our own media did not give her any kudos. And I have not heard of Shoshanna complaining about this either. I feel proud that Shoshanna represented what is best about this country even in the difficult position she was in no matter what the media wanted to force down our throats.
Here's an interesting part, more important it seems to me that how much media coverage this story is or is not getting.
"The last person known to have seen Ms. Figueroa was Stephen Poaches, 25, the father of her baby. Mr. Poaches has refused to take part in the search."
I mean, how suspicious is that? Refused to take part in the search, I wonder what "reason" he gives for that. And isn't it true that in most of these cases the father of the baby is the killer? I don't see why they need news coverage, it looks like the prime suspect is right under their noses, granted, that didn't stop the media in the Peterson case.
This is a heartbreaking case but I wish people would give more coverage to that girl who went missing in Aruba. Maybe some extra publicity will help shed light on what happened to her.
Yes, white women have gotten the most coverage. However, I believe that one reason this woman has gotten the coverage that she has is that her disapearance has come in the wake of Laci Peterson and Natalee Holloway. These cases have made us ask ourselves if we only care for white women and I truly think the answer is no. These other high-profile cases have made many of us do some soul searching. I'm very glad Latoyia is getting the coverage she is. I would like to think she will be found safe, but I hold out little hope. I'm tired of predators thinking they can kill our women and children.
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