
Democratic Underground Latest Greatest Lobby Journals Search Options Help Login

Reply #31: I think you might be missing the point there [View All]

Printer-friendly format Printer-friendly format
Printer-friendly format Email this thread to a friend
Printer-friendly format Bookmark this thread
This topic is archived.
Posteritatis Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Nov-01-10 09:29 PM
Response to Reply #27
31. I think you might be missing the point there
This isn't a case of "your daughter should be out of luck" as much as it's a case of "many, many other people are being cast to the wolves because they don't get as good ratings."

Meaning absolutely no disrepect to your daughter - two of my cousins were kidnapping victims (recovered safely, but still), so I have at least a little experience with that whole nightmare - the media really does actively go out of its way to prefer missing white middle-or-upper-class usually-blonde women in such situations, to the point where "Missing Pretty Girl Syndrome"* is used formally to describe it in studies of how the news presents this sort of thing.

Prime time news generally won't raise an eyebrow to cover, say, a missing Hispanic girl, to say nothing of a missing black boy. All three people warrant exactly the same level of concern, resources, attention and effort, but two of them are completely and deliberately ignored by national media for ratings purposes, while the third will often remain in the news for months or years after - one way or another - the actual case is over.

Of course, if any instance of any kid matching any of those descriptions got wall-to-wall coverage on all the networks, given the number of them out there, nothing else would ever get discussed. I don't pretend to know where the balance should be there.

* - And there's a whole new level of problems implied in that term, isn't there?
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top


Powered by DCForum+ Version 1.1 Copyright 1997-2002
Software has been extensively modified by the DU administrators


Home  |  Discussion Forums  |  Journals |  Store  |  Donate

About DU  |  Contact Us  |  Privacy Policy


© 2001 - 2011 Democratic Underground, LLC