Blogger Draws Attention to Case of Missing Mom (We've got the power...)

[dooner]

Wow, Nice Job DU and other sites! (Sorry if this is a dupe, didn't find on searching.)

By Larry Eichel and Thomas J. Gibbons Jr
Knight Ridder Newspapers

Thanks largely to the efforts of a local Internet blogger, the Figueroa case is receiving plenty of national coverage, particularly from cable news.

<snip>

"These missing-persons stories happen every day," said the blogger, Richard Blair, who operates a progressive political Web site at www.allspinzone.com. "But which become newsworthy? A lot of it has to do with skin color and economics, but more important, I think, is what catches somebody's eye. If you get the word out, news organizations will respond. That's what we did."

Late last week, Philadelphia police briefed reporters about the missing woman. But little coverage ensued.

So on Tuesday, Blair, thinking the case deserved more attention, dispatched a pointed e-mail to Nancy Grace, host of a nightly show on CNN Headline News. Grace's show has given constant coverage to the case of Natalee Holloway, the Alabama teenager missing in Aruba.

The e-mail read: "Latoyia Figueroa is still missing after 8 days. And as tragic as the Natalee Holloway case might be, Natalee doesn't have a 7-year-old child wondering where she is, nor was Natalee ... 5 months pregnant."

<snip>

After Blair posted the e-mail on his site, two things happened. He sent the message out to a number of other Web sites, several of which posted it, generating a lot of supportive comment. And the e-mail to Grace got noticed by a CNN producer, who was spurred into action.

The results were immediate and dramatic.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002408524_missing29.html

[seabeyond]

1. yes yes yes.......

i saw that a couple nights ago, and knew it was this board that did that. told husband, people on the board did this. the sad, 10 days later they start their search. 10 days later. sad

but yes, shows we do have the power