Missing Woman's Case Spurs Discussion of News Coverage

[Rose Siding]

snip>
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.

"Certainly, everybody hopes that they find out what happened to Natalee Holloway in Aruba and to all the other missing young women," said Juan F. Ramos, the city councilman, as he handed out leaflets on the teeming corner of 52nd and Market Streets. "But for a while there, you had to wonder: why not Latoyia?"

Ms. Figueroa, who is five months pregnant, was last seen not far from that busy corner around 5 p.m. on July 18, after a doctor's visit. She lived with her 7-year-old daughter, to whom friends said she was devoted. She had a solid work record at a Center City restaurant. Neither her credits cards nor her cellphone have been used since she disappeared.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/07/national/07missing.html

[ShockediSay]

1. Sound Bite Media -

if it doesn't take a bite out of ratings, they don't make a sound.

[Son of California]

2. One of the many reasons why I hate the MSM

I remember someone mentioning on here a while ago the strange disparity between the news coverage of some 50 odd upperclass white people being killed in London, when twice that many are killed on a regular basis in Iraq.

What did they say, rich and white: the news goes nuts. Poor and brown: no one cares?

[Erika]

9. It's cable news, not MSM who are stuck on the rich whites

[Booster]

3. Wouldn't it be nice if the media looked into their collective souls

and actually admitted this. They need to feel shame for many, many things.

[Gman]

4. In San Antonio

there was a white girl that went missing for a couple of weeks. She was a very sweet girl that I knew from the time she was a baby. However, unlike the Holloways and other drop dead gorgeous white girls that went missing, this girl was heavyset, rather plain looking and had a baby that was half African-American. Her story got a little coverage on one of the independent local stations but not much more. She was found dead about 2 weeks later and the baby's father was arrested. The girl was abducted and killed so there was not much chance that publicity would have saved her. The point is just that she didn't fit the mold so she wasn't going to help anyone's TV ratings. Therefore, she got no publicity.

[CTyankee]

25. yes, it happened in Bridgeport, CT

an 11 year old hispanic girl from a poor neighborhood left in a van from her school grounds just before school one morning and hasn't been seen since.

I remember someone remarking that those hispanic girls mature earlier than whites, implying that the kid ran off with a guy and that that was to be "sort of" expected. The family started asking why nobody was covering her case when all the attention was on Elizabeth Smart (this was a few years ago). Eventually, her case was aired on "America's Most Wanted" but I haven't heard anything since.

Who knows what happened to that poor kid...

[Pithy Cherub]

5. The "media " mental midgets may have noticed derision

and sarcasm directed their way from a number of different directions. Comics have been having a field day with "the missing white lady media" lately. The media is in trouble for arrogantly taking continued dopiness of the audience for granted.

[wanpete]

6. the media SUCKS..

we no longer have a real media. When we can spend day after countless day discussing one missing person in aruba and we are in a war in which thousands of americans have died and can't spend one night talking about them, we have no media. remember when ted koppel got pounded for just wanting to name and show the pictures of the then 700 fallen soldies. unbelievable!

[panzerfaust]

20. Nobody ever went broke underestimating ...

...the intelligence of the American public.

PT Barnum

[bettyellen]

7. heard one awful talking head say it's because "everyone knew someone like

the cheerleader" who disappeared in aruba. so theefore it's not raccist. wtf??
i don't think i met a single blond till i was in highschool for fucks sake, and i grew up in nyc.

[Chovexani]

36. Someone actually said that?

Yeah, I knew girls like the cheerleader in school and they conspired to make my life a living hell.

WTF is wrong with the media?

[Erika]

8. If you're white and upper class

the cable channels are interested. Faux and CNN give dozens of daily updates about Holloway. The fact they have to be "shamed" into reporting other missing persons is shameful in itself.

[otohara]

10. NBC Actually Did A Story How They Ignore Black Women

MIA's - and other minorities.

Dateline was supposed to be about this, but something else aired. They mentioned the exact thousands of "MIA White Women" mentions on all 3 networks vs the "big fat zero" mentions on "MIA Minority Women".

Their excuse was "missing white women" are hot stories, but stopped short of saying "missing minority women" are not hot.

[rodeodance]

23. saying that missing white women are hot stories implies that missing

minories are not. But I think this is probably true for many.


...Their excuse was "missing white women" are hot stories, but stopped short of saying "missing minority women" are not hot.

[SoCalDem]

11. Mass-media of the purely local and individual

These are all tragic stories, but truth-be-told, they are LOCAL interest stories. I will never meet Aruba-girl's parents, visit her town, or have a smidgen of interest in her life.

and when someone gets bludgeoned to death by an ex-lover, it does not affect my day to day life.

If these events are reported as part of a larger issue, that's one thing, but to glamorize them daily/hourly...for months on end, does nothing except re-victimize them and the family..

The possibility of a "lead" coming from somewhere off the island of Aruba or out of the immediate area where Latoyia lived, is miniscule...

and when little kids are kidnapped, it's not really necessary for CNN to break in every few minutes with updates and tearful interviews.. the responsible among us do not need to see the tears to get us to report anything suspicious, and the ones who have the child either are not glued to the tube, or have no interest in the grief of the family (or they would not have taken the child)..

It's just tacky voyeurism...

The networks would have us believe that child abduction is on the rise, which it isn't. Parents all over the country are scaring themselves silly...wondering if THEIR child will be there in the morning..or will have been stolen during the night..

Truth told, those things DO happen from time to time, but there's usually a "back story" that often does not come out until much later, and it's rarely covered with the same enthusiasm.

Most children are abused/stolen by people they KNOW...and most people are killed/attacked by people they know as well..

are there some "scary" strangers? of course, but not every stranger is out to abduct your child. you would be better served to watch uncle whatshisname or father whoever, or even grampa,dad or stepdaddy

[Old Mouse]

12. kick n/t

[ninkasi]

13. Of the two, it would seem to me

that equal resources should be directed toward finding Laytoyia Figeroa. She is pregnant, and has a 7 year old daughter who is wondering where her mother is. As sacred as the right wing has made the fetus, does the fact that this particular one is growing in a woman who is not rich, white, or blond, or a combination of all three make this woman and her unborn child less worthy of attention?

Remember the Lacy Peterson saga...part of the drama was due to the fact that she was attractive, middle class, and pregnant. Much was made of her pregnancy. So the discrimination starts even before birth, doesn't it? This doesn't mean to not report on the girl in Aruba, but surely the media can spare some time to other victims. They are no less deserving of our concern and compassion.

[SoCalDem]

14. Pregnant and not married?

the media probably thought she didn't "deserve" attention, what with bein' a loose woman and all..:sarcasm:

[ninkasi]

17. It's about here in their way of thinking

that I develop twitches in my eyes and hands. She is pregnant. She has a child already. What possible difference should it make whether she is married or not?

I'm not attacking you, SoCalDem, I appreciate your feedback, and recognized the sarcasm. If this had been a white woman, and carrying a child out of wedlock, we would probably be treated to the father's every move, why he wouldn't marry her, and professional shrinks who had never seen anybody involved giving us their opinions.

The MSM would find a way to spin this, and give it plenty of air time if, in spite of being unmarried, the woman were white, and attractive. I can offer no proof, this is just my opinion. For the record, I am white. I am 62 years old. I ask you, and myself, if I disappeared one day, and a member of a minority, black, latino, whichever, disappeared the same day, who would get the most coverage?

I am white, have 4 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild. My own children and my stepdaughter are all very attractive. I am convinced that even though I have never done anything to merit it, I would receive more press coverage than other women the same age, if they were members of a minority group.

I am going to bed now, this is late for great granny. Sometimes, though arthritis wants to crawl into bed with me, and I read DU to keep me from thinking about him. Sorry to post and run, but I need to sleep.

[SoCalDem]

18. I too,lament the fact that there is a very narrow range of "acceptability"

but I do believe that the media makes a concerted effort to "push one story", while ignoring the other. When they get their noses rubbed in their bias, they sometimes try to play catch-up, but it's usually way too little way too late.

I feel in my gut, that when this disapopearance was discussed behind closed doors, the unmarried black woman with once child and expecting another, facts weighed into their decision on how they would cover it..

The class of people who do the reporting, probably thought it was just a spat with her boyfriend, and she would resurface later..

...

here in california, every time a hispanic boy 10-16 disappears of gets into trouble we automatically hear two things..

cops/media : gang member
parents/family: honor roll student

truth : probably somewhere in-between..

[lildreamer316]

16. And she's probably

HERE as in IN THE COUNTRY. I think that would make the search easier, don't you?
Sheesh these ppl kill me.

[Up2Late]

15. NO!NO!NO!NO!NO!NO!NO!Nooooo ooooooo ooooo oooooo ooo!

THIS IS WRONG! DO NOT FALL INTO THIS TRAP!

THIS IS BULLSHIT! The REAL NEWS STORY Should be, "WHY ARE they (The Cable "news") focusing on ANY of these Stupid 'Missing Pretty Girl' Stories?"

THESE ARE LOCAL STORIES! They are using these in place of REAL "BUSH IS A CRIMINAL" Stories! And that goes double for his EVIL Cabal.

This has been brewing for weeks, and the Black Media is fueling it, but I think it's coming from the BLACK REPUBLICAN Media, who keep pushing this as a "Race Thing," and they are playing the rest of the Black Journalist for Suckers! Now remember, I said I THINK they are playing the non-ReThug Black Journalist for Suckers, People here show so little interest when I post about this, I get almost no responses or help about this.

If you want to hear how this has developed over the last few month, check out the daily "Reporters Round table" at the link below:

<http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=11>

They do one almost every day at the new NPR Show "News & Notes with Ed Gordon." It sometimes gets a bit out of control, but I try to catch it everyday, to keep track of what the black media is talking about.

[KayLaw]

19. These are local stories

I've thought all along that once people start grumbling about the missing women's race, they'll just find some missing or murdered woman of color to go on and on about. . . anything to avoid discussing more nationally or universally important things.

[WhoWantsToBeOccupied]

26. Exactly! So many huge issues. One missing person is not national news.

[Old Mouse]

34. news coverage

may help save their lives

[WhoWantsToBeOccupied]

35. People are dying daily in huge numbers from important, overlooked issues

Missing persons get the media spotlight because they do not offend advertisers' profit centers.

How about all the people dying from bad prescription medications or junk food, for example? How about soldiers in Iraq? How about Iraqis in Iraq?

[Old Mouse]

39. You would not extend effort

to save a single life because the lives of many are in danger? Is it not better to extend the effort to save both?

[WhoWantsToBeOccupied]

40. We hear about a lost girl but nothing about a $3 trillion tax giveaway!

The media covers only so much. You must prioritize.

People today don't even have time/interest to watch 30 minutes of news... er, 21 minutes of news and 9 minutes of ads.

If you listed the top 50 most important news stories every day, it would take hours to cover them all. And a single missing person would not be on the list.

What about, for example, the so-called "American Job Creation Act of 2004"? I bet you didn't even know that this legislation--which is not creating new jobs--is a multi-trillion dollar giveaway to multinational corporations. They are repatriating $500+ billion in profits this year at a 5.25% tax rate instead of the 35% rate they should be paying in taxes. That's $3 trillion in potential lost taxes! The media is busy instead covering some lost girl.

Or how about CAFTA, which apparently will now allow multinational corporations to ignore many American laws?

Our media no longer cares what's newsworthy. It simply does whatever its corporate masters want.

[Old Mouse]

41. release of news

is a police tactic designed to keep a kidnap victim alive and increase the odds of rescue. Honest reporting on abductions - and crime in general - in this country could also do a ot toward improving race relations and reducing the climate of fear that empowers the extreme right.

[VelmaD]

27. I think we all know why they focus on these missing girl stories...

two reasons. 1) distraction and 2) to keep women living in fear that it could happen to them.

[SoCalDem]

28. Off topic, velma..

a star wars-y funny , since you like the Sith

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=3810602&mesg_id=3810602

[VelmaD]

29. Saw that earlier...cracked me up...

I just wish I could figure out whether it's the Sith or the Jedi that are Presbyterians. *snort*

[Chovexani]

37. Who the fuck is the black republican media?

Armstrong Williams' trifling ass?

Look, I agree that cable news needs to show some balance wrt the missing girl stories and Iraq and *'s crimes.

I'm just not getting your CAPSLOCK OF CONSPIRACY, at least with the "black republican media".

I know sometimes people forget this on DU, but black people? We're really not that stupid, thanks.

[NeoTraitors]

21. My problem with the 2 missing girl cases is that

Americans could possibly help the girl in Philly. If they would show her picture maybe someone would spot her and return her to safety. Unfortunately, Americans can offer no help to the girl in Aruba. If she is alive, it is highly doubtful that she was kidnapped and taken to America.

The media is wasting our time and exploiting the Aruba girl's family when they could be showing missing people that we could all look out for.

[rodeodance]

22. I wonder why the FBI felt it needed to intervien in the Aruba case?--

[SoCalDem]

24. pressure from rich white parents to their congressperson

:(

[Frances]

30. There's a political basis to this reporting

I grew up in the segregated south and we always had this kind of reporting. It reinforces the stereotype that whites are the victims of crime committed by minorities; therefore, whites are innocent and minorities are guilty of crime.

If the reports were objective and both whites and minorities were seen as victim and victimizer, then Repubicans could not win elections based on advocating for the death penalty or reduced time for death penalty appeals (a Repub just introduced such a bill in the House to that effect).

[sunnystarr]

31. It's not different on a mass scale either

The genocide in WW2 was horrendous and the outrage was universal. But when it's happening in Africa, the world looks the other way.

[Turn CO Blue]

32. Dateline did a 15-20 minute in-depth story about this issue

on Friday. I watched it, and I have to say it was fair -- it seemed to me that they didn't pull any punches about how much more coverage has been given to missing white women vs. missing women of color. They had plenty of statistics. They interviewed families of missing women of color who haven't gotten much media coverage. They also discussed other factors such as gender, age, social standing and "attractiveness" of the missing being a factor in who seems to gets major coverage.

(Sidenote: Contrary to what we all thought -- the most devoted media airtime for a missing woman has not been for Natalee but was for Lacy Peterson when she was missing at Christmastime (she WAS white, pregnant and attractive, but not a blonde)).

Dateline requested interviews with the presidents of six or seven network news and cable news agencies -- only the president of NBC news agreed to be interviewed about this issue. He admitted they were wrong (a first step) and that he and his staff would be reviewing this issue.

They also did a small clip of other TV and newspaper stories about how the coverage is shifting to this issue (why white missing women get more coverage) instead of shifting to actually covering the stories of missing women of color or advanced age.

[Miss Chybil]

33. Once again, they give themselves a cursory hand slap and then it's back

to business as usual. Minority girls don't sell newspapers, or books, or spawn Lifetime movie deals.

[Chovexani]

38. Where the White Women At?

NBC, CNN announce merger

June 11 (Bloomberg) — In a surprise move expected to send shockwaves through the world of TV journalism, CNN, the orginal cable news network, and NBC, which owns cable channels MSNBC and CNBC, announced a deal to consolidate their news organizations into a single giant news network. By pooling their journalistic resources, the organizations will be able to offer deeper coverage of the most important stories of the day, and will be better equipped to complete with current cable news champion FOX News. The new network - to be called Where the White Women At?, or WWWA - is set to debut this week.

At CNN President Jonathan Klein explained the deal at a press conference on Saturday. “For most of history, journalists could afford to spend their time covering wars, famines, politics, and business. The reason for this is that everybody knew where the white women were at - at home, probably in the kitchen, minding the kids. Sure, sometimes they were out shopping, or knitting at a friend’s house, or even working as an elementary school teacher, but, by and large, the location and status of all white women was known.
“However, society has changed, and the business of journalism has changed with it. These days, with the increased opportunities available to white women, we as a nation are losing track of even the prettiest white women. White women are dissappearing in Aruba, from their jobs as Washington interns, and even right before their own weddings. And while we do our best to give the public all the necessary information about missing white women, the job is just too large for any one cable network to handle.

http://www.thepoorman.net/2005/06/11/nbc-cnn-announce-merger/

It's funny, 'cause it's true. I've taken to calling CNN, M$RNC, etc. WWWA.