You may want to read this first and then come back.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5325808/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4669495/

“There are several common threads,” Clark said. “The victims that get the most coverage are female rather than male. They are white, in general, rather than young people of color. They are at least middle class, if not upper middle class.”

“The example of a bad murder would be the murder of an African-American person from a poor neighborhood,” he said. “The definition of a good murder is a socialite killed by her jealous husband, the debutante murdered by her angry boyfriend.”

When it comes to police stories, Clark said, there is “this perverted, racist view of the world. White is good; black is bad. Blonde is good; dark is bad. Young is good; old is bad. And I think we can find versions of this story going back to the tabloid wars of more than a hundred years ago.”

This morning my wife was reading the morning paper and commented about the pregnant young woman in Utah who disappeared while jogging. For a moment I confused the story with other recent events of women going missing.

But how many men go missing every year? How many black, Latino or Asian women who don't draw headlines and national attention? In a campaign commercial, Bush attacks Kerry for his vote on the Laci Peterson Bill. While what happened to Laci was a tragedy, is a tragedy of national importance?

Why is this? Why is there seemingly a double standard where some lives mean more than others. I'm not certain if this is a Race or Media question, but I wonder why if you're not a child or a young white woman it seems nobody cares very much.

But how many men go missing every year? How many black, Latino or Asian women who don't draw headlines and national attention?

I can't answer that because I don't know.


Why is this? Why is there seemingly a double standard where some lives mean more than others.

Why do you suppose it 'means' that some lives mean more than others?

Just because people choose to identify with some one who went missing does not mean that the person in question has more value.

I think its a matter of identity. I can only answer for myself in this regard but I would care less if a black man went missing than if a white woman did. That is not to say that I would not care at all, only that I would be more inclined towards caring about another white person than a black person.

Because I am white, I look upon another white person as being closer to me than a black person. I'm fairly sure this is so for most people. I've seen black people talk and act with disregard for white people, and white people do the same in reverse. At some level I suppose we are all slightly racist in this way.
So, I believe that in our minds we feel closer to those who are more like us and since America is still a Eurocentric society, I have no doubt that it is this that drives the national psyché towards identifying more with young white college girls than with black men.

Having said that though, if I heard that a search of the country side was being performed for a missing person, then I would join in and help to find them, regardless of their gender or the colour of their skin. I think that most people, despite their instinctive mistrust of other people are well capable of putting aside their differences if it means to help another person.

Thank you for starting this thread nighttimer. This is one of those issues that I embarrassingly did not give enough consideration to until I moved to Savannah, where our population is pretty evenly mixed between blacks and whites with a small percentage of Hispanics and Asians. After we did move here, Mike and I started to notice this "MWP" phenomena also.

This is a bit anecdotal but Mike and I mock FoxNews in regard to MWP, particularly Sean Hannity. It all started with the Summer of Saundra (Levy) in 2001, the following year was Danielle Van Dam, in 2003 it was Elizabeth Smart. I don't know who it is this year - we got rid of cable.

Fox News capitalized on these missing white girls, even going so far as to creating special music that they would play before running a story about one of them (each of which they ran ad nauseum). Sean Hannity kept using the phrase "that beautiful girl" every time he would describe Elizabeth Smart. Now whenever a pretty white girl goes missing we mockingly exclaim, "oh that beautiful girl!" We say it not to diminish the pain the family of the missing must be feeling but to give a nod to those families who are experiencing the same pain but just don't happen to have pretty white kids.

This issue really hit home for me in 2003 when another beautiful girl went missing here in Savannah. The Rittenhouse Review describes it better than I can:

For days, I kept scouring the national news for a story about her. Her disappearance was bizarre and I am convinced that had she come from one of the 'old families' of Savannah an Amber or Levi (Georgia's version) Alert surely would have been issued. The GBI made some lame excuses to try to explain this away, but I can't get past my cynicism that the only reason an alert was not sent out was because Ashleigh was black.

It was one of those issues that made white people shift uncomfortably in their seats and then ignored. Better to sweep under the rug that which makes us uneasy, right?

So getting to your debate questions - the first I really can't answer, I'd have to research it harder.

The second, "Why is this? Why is there seemingly a double standard where some lives mean more than others" is the more compelling question. I can only surmise that this is a result of our corporate driven media. Apparently pretty white girls make for good copy. Why is this so? My hunch is that it has a lot to do with moif's response - white people identify better with it. Since whites are the biggest audience of cable news, it seems to sell well.

One blogger at The Talent Show described the phenomena better than me:

As far as corporate media is concerned, yes, some lives are worth more than others. As long as they have an audience for it, they will continue. So turn your TV off when these stories are replayed over and over and write to the advertisers of the network stating you will boycott their products until the network provides more fair coverage of all missing people. A bitter, disappointing answer to be sure, but threads like this are small but useful bridges over the divide.

Unfortunately, the Laci Peterson case became a tragedy of national importance when they enacted national legislation as a result to make it a crime to kill a fetus. Until then, it was just a sad and sordid and LOCAL tale of adultery and murder.

While I won’t argue that missing pretty white girls are given far more national media attention than minorities; locally I see coverage of a great many missing minority children. Mind you, it’s always the very young (and cute) ones that receive the most headlines.

I wonder if the national attention is only given when there are “sensational” aspects to the cases; i.e. abduction from a well-to-do, “safe” neighborhood (e.g. Smart), while speaking on the phone with someone in a parking lot in broad daylight (Sjodin), the sordidness of the parents’ lifestyles (van Dam). Currently, the big media hoopla here is about a missing 17-year old boy – white, of course. I also wonder whether the parents’ desire for coverage isn’t a driving factor. Smart’s father was a bit of a media hound…still is, for that matter.

I remember the Megan Barroso case on a July 4th weekend. Megan was a 20-year old Hispanic student whose empty car was discovered with its engine running near Hwy 23 in Moorpark. She was eventually found murdered, the murderer also a serial rapist.

But, the whole issue of missing children itself is blown out of proportion. The hysterical media coverage makes parents believe their child is in constant danger of being snatched by a homicidal maniac. It is an issue that causes a visceral reaction in every parent. And, of course, there are the ratings to consider:

It's incredibly crass, but maybe missing white kids get better ratings?

I'd like to remind everyone that Texas took Mr. Byrd's death seriously:

http://www.senate.state.tx.us/75r/Senate/A...01/p051101a.htm

Respectfully, noodles

Not once in my entire life... that I remember. A new rich white girl case just came up within the last few days, and I was ranting about this to my girlfriend. It almost seems like the rich white females get a "get out of kidnapping" free card since they get so much coverage.



Again, I have no idea, probably a number similar to white women.



Jeez, you should know this, white people are inherently more valuable than black peopl!

No seriously, moif, though slightly insensetively made the case. It is a matter of identity. Think about the demographic that MSNBC and CNN reaches. I think that the majority be white, educated and affluent. Thus their favorite thing to cover is things that interest white, educated affluent people. Heart renching stories about damsels in distress that could even be your daughter get ratings and attention from this majority. People care. (I believe that this could be done with anyone, white black, latino). It is not the people watching the news who choose which cases to care about. The Media chooses which stories to run. The media is mostly owned by large slightly conservative to very conservative organizations headed by white folks, and we all know which demographic of people are MOST likely to be racists... (or just racially biased without realizing). The Problem is the medias choice in stories, I think anyone who cares should look for a group advocating that more attention be payed to non-white-teengae-rich-attractive-girls. If there isn't one out there I think We should start one.

Oh really? "We all know" this huh? I'd love to see a copy of the scientific poll or analysis that somehow determined the political leanings of "the media" owners and then even broke it down into nuanced degrees of "slightly" to "very".

I'd also love to see the scientific poll or analysis that determined that "slightly conservative to very conservative white folks" who go on to run large media organizations come from the "demographic of people MOST likely to be racists" and/or "just racially biased without realizing" (and who determined that "fact"?).

While certainly not scientific, my gut tells me that the "demographic of people MOST likely to be racists" and/or "just racially biased without realizing" are the people of any color who have been taught to distrust, dislike, and/or hate those of another color.

Regarding the title question of this thread-



It has already been touched upon to a degree, but Gender (female), Age (young), and (to a lesser degree) Wealth and Beauty), seem to be prerequisites for news coverage at least (if not more) so than simply Race.

Perhaps we need to expand the forums in "Social Issues" to include "Age", "Wealth", and "Beauty"?

Does it really matter who is one TV and who is not. White people are no better than blacks, latinos, or asians. Truthfully most latinos and asians work harder than any other skin color. I have met black people that you can respect and then some you cant, same with white people. The media is all rich racist's in my opinion.

Question for you guys??

IF i was black or latino would you come look for me if i was kidnapped and i was a male?

No, it's not a tragedy of national importance any more than other tragedies.


Probably for the same reason that so many female anchors on television have blonde hair. It is racial preference of the viewing audiences. Focus groups tell the media how (predominantly) female anchors need to look in order to be attractive.

I don't know that the racial preference is as calculated when newsstories come up--do we run the one on the missing black girl or Asian Girl or the missing blonde white girl?

As far as men go, somehow their going missing does not evoke the pathos that missing girls do--the innocence factor, I think.

Two big reasons that Laci Peterson got so much attention were that she was 1) very photogenic and 2) heavily pregnant, which the pro-life people focused on.

I know the favorite color of conservative to slightly conservative, white men who run broadcast networks. They are the most racist bastards in the world. It doesn't matter what you did yesterday or 100 years ago, all they see is color. Black, white, polka-dot, is of no concern to them. If you want them to do anything, but look right through you, I will tell you what color you better be my friend. You see, the only color those folks like, is the color green. No modern businessman could run an industry of any importance holding old-time isms with any firmness. They run the Peterson story or the Levi story because suckers latch on to that stuff in droves. If people watch, commercials roll. I could never figure it out, why people watch that stuff. I guess, that's why I don't run a major network.

Why ask why?


A little boy, 9 years old was lying face down on his mother's loveseat napping when a bullet came through the window hitting the child in the chest, he never woke up.

This is a true story and it happened here just last Wednesday.
Anybody hear about it?
No?

This little boy was poor and hispanic and his family lived in a gang neighborhood.

The chain link fence outside the home where he lived has a few cards, flowers and teddy bears propped up against it.

In God's eyes this little boy is just as precious and important as the wealthy, anglo child from the good neighborhood who is accidentally killed, and I guess that's all that matters.

This thread seems to have run its course, but as a new poster I just stumbled across it and can't resist adding my $.02. Not that anyone will necessarily read it.



I was too lazy to keep looking for US statistics, but in Australia approximately 55% of missing persons are men and 45% women. When you exclude "people missing from institutions" -- I expect most of those would be either prisons or mental detention centers -- about 2/3 of all missing persons in Australia are under 18. (The stats for Australia just happened to come up on the first page when I googled for "'missing person' +statistics")

I'm sure anyone who really wants to know any more of the demographics could find them easily enough. Just remember that many disappearances, male and female, are voluntary. And I can't swear, but I'm pretty sure that I've read that the vast majority of missing minors are a result of one parent or the other. In other words, most missing persons are not in danger of violence (but again, don't hold me to this, as I can't back it up at this point).



To me this seems obvious. ibelsd touched on it when he mentioned money.

Since news is now infotainment at best (do I really need to provide statistical backup for this? News got sucked into the entertainment part of the bottom lines of stations and networks quite a while back.), news organizations live and die by ratings just like everyone else. I'd suspect that most news directors of the world are as sensitive and caring as you or me in their off time, but their job is to get ratings/attract advertisers/keep news in the black -- period.

Again, just supposition, but I'd bet that a newspaper or station serving a black community would tend to cover disappearances of blacks more. If you'd like confirmation you could easily research Latino communities in south Texas, Arizona, or California. I know from living here that Latino populations are a heavy majority in south Texas.

Now, if you'll stipulate that ratings drive coverage, the question becomes why pretty, fair, white young women and cute, innocent-looking, big-eyed children produce a media firestorm of consternation, wailing, and gnashing of teeth.

The majority of people in this country are of caucasian or fair-skinned Latin-American origin. I hope that it's not yet considered racist to speak the obvious truth. That news directors, seeking the highest ratings and given limited airtime, would choose to spotlight those cases that appeal to the largest demographic should come as a surprise to no one.

There's more to this story, I suspect. I heard someone posit the other day that the reason the Peterson case garnered such attention is that married women all over the nation look at their husbands, speculate on what it is that propels a seemingly normal, adjusted husband to drop off the edge of the continent of civilized society -- and how they can know if the husbands they're now looking at exhibit any symptoms of such a trip.

Is the ratings race a bad thing? In my opinion, not in and of itself -- but that's the subject of an entirely different debate.

What does it say about us as a nation that we fall for this relatively obvious heartstring tugging? It's not racism, but it ain't all that pretty either.

Respectfully submitted,
Delta

EDITED BY DF TO ADD: Forgot to include the link to Australian stats: http://www.missingpersons.gov.au/STUDY.pdf

Welcome to the forum, Delta.
I'm a newbie too.

I think most of us here are in agreement that there are many more people going missing than we ever know about.
Some don't have family or friends who would even miss them or even care.
And all that go missing are not the result of foul play.

I believe you hit the nail on the head with your statements about the media....sensationalism sells. And there is nothing more sensational than a pretty, white pregnant woman of high social standing who disappears.

There is no doubt in my mind that if the poor hispanic boy I was referring to had been from a well-known family, a prominent family or a white family in a good neighborhood, it would have gotten more coverage and the one who did the shooting would be behind bars right now.

But, as Walter Cronkite always said: "and that's the way it is".