Has American media lost all perspective?

[JTD]

Lead story on cablenewser today and the link can be found here:

http://gopvixen.blogs.com/gop_vixen/2005/06/uncle.html

At a time when Iraq seems to be erupting into total chaos, at a time where oil prices have hit $60, at a time when N.K. and Iran are both busy developing nuclear weapons, at a time when the U.S. congress is preparing for a supreme court nomination battle, etc, etc.. what do we get 24/7 coverage of - Natalie Holloway non stop. Just like Elizabeth Smart was non-stop.

Enough media enough! And shame on the general public too. Greta Van Susteren got her highest ratings ever covering this non-story so the public is just as much at fault.

I want to see the media start covering the little African American girls and boys who go missing who are poor, the hispanic children and people of other races.

The media only cares about you if you are white and beautiful and that is a shame.

But on a weekend where it's the 6 month anniversary of the Asian Tsunami, to have to suffer through a non story like this is just outrageous.

[sunny]

Harsh.

My youngest god-daughter is blonde with blue eyes. God forbid, but should she go missing it should be ignored because she is white with blonde hair and blue eyes?

This is not a "non story" to Natalees' family and friends. This young girl has in all likelihood been murdered in a foreign country.

[coriolis]

There's a lot of unfairness, hate, and anger in this world. If that's all you're looking for, that's all you'll find.


This thread could enter the "no win zone" in a hurry. Staff will be watching carefully.

[Rainband]

I agree ed and Blanket generalization is both foolish and unfounded. Think before you post please..jason.

[Brent]

Well... how many black girls/women have you seen on the news that have gone missing? I can think of NONE and trust me there are plenty out there.

The problem is, there are so many missing kids/teenagers that you'd need a channel to cover just that since it would require 24/7 coverage.

That said, the blogger is defintely harsh.

[GalvestonDuck]

Also a warning: There is some strong language on the blog site. It never gets overly-gross or pornographic. Just not PG-rated.

[JTD]

Brent, please back me up here.

This link came from cablenewser. You and I discussed on a thread before about how cablenewser is viewed by Wolf Blitzer, Roger Ailes, etc.

So, if it can be posted here AT THIS LINK:

http://mediabistro.com/tvnewser/

viewed by media elites, why was I blasted?????????????????

[JTD]

I agree ed and Blanket generalization is both foolish and unfounded. Think before you post please..jason.

I take strong offence to this post. I think there is strong basis for questioning why the media covers stories such as this incessantly and ignores other more important stories.

Yes, it is important for her family but so are little African American and Hispanic girls that go missing. As Brent said, they are never covered this extensively.

I think discussing media excess is warranted and the treatment of me in this thread is incredibly hurtful to me. BTW, I started coming here because it was one of the few places for a long time that I felt accepted and welcome and to have that door suddenly slammed shut again is most hurtful.

[Brent]

Brent, please back me up here.

This link came from cablenewser. You and I discussed on a thread before about how cablenewser is viewed by Wolf Blitzer, Roger Ailes, etc.

So, if it can be posted here AT THIS LINK:

http://mediabistro.com/tvnewser/

viewed by media elites, why was I blasted?????????????????

I have no idea... bloggers are the new thing on the internet. You may not agree with all of them, but they are everywhere now. TVNewser IS a blog.

[JTD]

Brent, please back me up here.

This link came from cablenewser. You and I discussed on a thread before about how cablenewser is viewed by Wolf Blitzer, Roger Ailes, etc.

So, if it can be posted here AT THIS LINK:

http://mediabistro.com/tvnewser/

viewed by media elites, why was I blasted?????????????????

I have no idea... bloggers are the new thing on the internet. You may not agree with all of them, but they are everywhere now. TVNewser IS a blog.

Right but you have visited this blog many times before right? and you know it to be quite good? that's what I'm saying. I'm talking about the TV newser blog.

[HurryKane]

Jason, I understood where you were coming from with your initial post. In missing persons cases, the media focuses on pretty, caucasian females (bonus if they're pregnant) of certain socioeconomic classes much more than non-caucasian females and children, and males of any race. How often do you see the newsheads going bonkers over a missing adult male? Never. Perhaps it is the perception that adult males should be strong enough to take care of themselves?

I have no answers as to why the media focuses on the Laci Petersons, Natalie Holloways, Dru Sjodins, Jennifer Wilbanks, Elizabeth Smarts, etc. while ignoring missing inner city kids and so forth. Notable exceptions of late have been the three boys in New Jersey and the Cub Scout in Utah. I wonder if the media will ever take it upon themselves to examine why they choose to hype one missing person story over another.

Probably not.

[JTD]

Jason, I understood where you were coming from with your initial post. In missing persons cases, the media focuses on pretty, caucasian females (bonus if they're pregnant) of certain socioeconomic classes much more than non-caucasian females and children, and males of any race. How often do you see the newsheads going bonkers over a missing adult male? Never. Perhaps it is the perception that adult males should be strong enough to take care of themselves?

I have no answers as to why the media focuses on the Laci Petersons, Natalie Holloways, Dru Sjodins, Jennifer Wilbanks, Elizabeth Smarts, etc. while ignoring missing inner city kids and so forth. Notable exceptions of late have been the three boys in New Jersey and the Cub Scout in Utah. I wonder if the media will ever take it upon themselves to examine why they choose to hype one missing person story over another.

Probably not.

Hurrykane and storm2k moderators, that's all I was saying. Really

What deserves more coverage? A missing persons case or daily developments in Iraq? What deserves more coverage? The 6 month anniversary of an event that killed 200,000+ people or a delay in a court hearing which outcome is already known by all?

[sunny]

The thread title?

[streetsoldier]

This conversation, although civil so far, could get ugly very quickly. Rest assured, we Mods ARE watching.

[JTD]

The thread title?

I think the new title is more appropriate. Good point, Sunny.

With the need to make money and a smaller piece of the pie, we have to keep appealing to as large an audience as possible," Ted Koppel said today. "Sadly, the 'Runaway Bride' brings in a larger audience than a one-hour documentary on Iraq ever could." Broadcasting & Cable has the details...

The above is what I am decrying. Now, does anyone condone that?

Also, this quote from a google website I found also illustrates my point:

A great deal of the problem is that today's media companies are too concerned with what the public is interested in, but totally ignore the public interest and their responsibility to it. We as intelligent, thinking people deserve more and must use appropriate means to persuade media moguls that it's time to stop lowering the bar. Instead of offering programming and articles that pander to outlandish yet unproven claims of alien abduction or buried treasure, why not present a legitimately balanced viewpoint and encourage audience feedback to the material? This is not to say that every show should be Nova or overly cerebral, but it's very obvious that many viewers are disillusioned with the abysmally low standards of current television fare and are turning to other sources for entertainment and self-enrichment. Why aren't the networks looking for ways to counter this trend by offering programming to attract a larger share of this market segment?

[JTD]

This conversation, although civil so far, could get ugly very quickly. Rest assured, we Mods ARE watching.

How so? How is discussing media sensationalism going to become ugly?

[coriolis]

Jason, I can't argue about this. I see the tendency too. It's just that the presentation can be as important as the message itself. As long as this focuses on the media, I think that this is timely and pertinent. If it deteriorates into "my tragedy is worse than his tragedy," then we have a problem.

[HurryKane]

A great deal of the problem is that today's media companies are too concerned with what the public is interested in, but totally ignore the public interest and their responsibility to it.

That's an excellently stated synopsis of the problem. Do you have a link to the page it came from? Thanks.

[JTD]

Jason, I can't argue about this. I see the tendency too. It's just that the presentation can be as important as the message itself.

Right. Yes I copied the title from another website too willingly and absolutely should have re-phrased it. It was early in the morning and I think I didn't put enough thought into like you said the presentation.

I think we've reached an understanding now. Also, if you look at the national center for missing and exploited children, the list is heartbreaking so I guess you can't argue that the media should not cover this at all. It is in the national interest but rather than focusing on just 1 attractive case, maybe a 30 minute show each day interviewing the friends and family of say 5-10 victims of all races would be more appropriate.

It's just that 1 person doesn't deserve all this attention.

[JTD]

A great deal of the problem is that today's media companies are too concerned with what the public is interested in, but totally ignore the public interest and their responsibility to it.

That's an excellently stated synopsis of the problem. Do you have a link to the page it came from? Thanks.

HurryKane, it was an article on an alien documentary that the writer apparently was decrying but it came up when I did a google search on sensationalism and that 2nd paragraph stated things well.

The link is http://www.criticalenquiry.org/oakisland/media.html.

Also, I would question whether the media really cares what happens in missing persons cases like this. It's just a story that rakes them in more money.