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July 28, 2005 Let me get to the point: There has been an on-going tête-à-tête regarding whether or not certain aspects of the Natalee Holloway case have racial overtones. The fact there are so many writers debating this issue should be proof positive that the case does have a racial element at its core. Let’s set the scene: First of all, here was a young white woman in a foreign country who leaves her friends and chaperones to consort with strangers. When she comes up missing the media focuses on two black "suspects" (the hotel security guards) who were detained by police. Days later, the primary "person of interest" is a well to do white youth. There we have the racial reality: All that's missing to this point is the Calvary riding to the rescue. But shortly thereafter, the Calvary came a-calling, in the form of the news media. For these reasons, I agree with Claxton Graham. There is nothing "false" or "exaggerated" about his articles. The fact is, when it boils down to black and white (still the most polarizing issue in America) the views are going to be different—period. At the same time I think I see the crux of Ron Lewis’s pointed rebuttal. His letter insinuates that the news media has data indicating stories of missing colored people aren’t ratings grabbers. Furthermore, he believes the black media focuses solely on black issues and turns a blind eye to the plight of missing white women. Ron believes that "News stories are chosen for their ability to generate ratings and sell issues." I don’t think that anyone would argue with that. But those who make the aforementioned decisions are saying that the lives of missing black women and children are not newsworthy. Few, if any of these decision makers are people of color. (22% of newsroom employees are minorties, as compared to their being 43% of the general population). I ask what is the difference between Natalie Holloway and Adrena Carter? Laci Peterson and 24-year old mother-to-be Evelyn Hernandez—whose mutilated corpse washed ashore in almost the same place as Laci’s? What makes the stories of Polly Klaas, Elizabeth Smart and Jon Benet Ramsey more newsworthy than black children like 9-year old, mentally challenged Christian Ferguson, 7-year old Samari Jackelynn Dillon, or Shakima Cabbagestalk? Obviously, black people aren’t the only ones who see the racial element in these cases.Tom Rosenthal, , director of the Washington-based Project for Excellence in Journalism states, "To be blunt, blond white chicks who go missing get covered and poor, black, Hispanic or other people of color who go missing do not get covered." Bill Shine is the executive producer of Fox News. He says that Fox doesn’t have "A formal policy in relationship to missing people or missing children." However, the day he said that, he was was speaking with reporters from MSNBC. That evening the lead story on FoxNews was that of missing Utah woman Lori Hacking—a 27-year old white woman. According to MSNBC reporters, earlier that day "(Fox) Network executives submitted a list of six African-American missing persons and those from other minority groups it had covered." For the record, both Mr. Shine and Mr. Rosenthal are white. (In some minds, that lends their words additional credibility). So why is it that, in the words of an ABC news executive, "blonde missing persons are more newsworthy."? The people making those decision do so with no research data to back it up. It is personal bias—period. (And for the record, BET did cover the Elizabeth Smart disappearance and her subsequent rescue. But remember, BET is no longer a "black" TV network. It is owned and managed by Time-Warner, thank you). Mr. Lewis pays a visit to the theater of the absurd when he writes, "Why don’t they televise our basketball games down at the Y? Is it because we’re old white guys and they’re racist?...Where are the stories about my little black dog? Could it be that few people give a rat’s tush about my dog." First of all, the issue of missing women and children—black or white—has to do with life and death issues. To trivialize this by contrasting it to dogs and old white guys shooting hoop serves no purpose other than for Mr. Lewis to try and sound clever. Second, if he were to examine afrocdentric media objectively, he would be proven wrong. Washington Post columnist Gene Robinson wrote, "Minorities make up about 40 percent of the U.S. population, and are the victims of nearly half the crimes. Yet they feature in zero percent of these cases that get the full-blown, 24/7 treatment on the cable news shows. That tells me that more is at work here than demography." The Washington Post received this e-mail from a reader in South Maryland: "You (Robinson) make an excellent point about the roles of race and class in this infuriating Damsels in Distress trend. I think those are factors only because most journalists are also white and middle-class. But above all, the reporters seem driven by lust. They seem to see themselves as the knights in shining armor." (For more on this, see my June 14, Useless Knowledge column, "Missing White Women and the ‘Sweet Gwendolyn Syndrome'"). The point is, the Holloway, Willbanks, Ramsey, Smart, Klaas, et al. Cases have been overplayed. Black people are not asking for equal time; only pointing out that there needs to be some objectivity. The race of a missing child or woman should not factor into whether or not it gets media coverage, or to what extent. ------------ About the author: Timothy Stelly is the 46-year old author of "Tempest In The Stone" and the soon to be released, "The Malice of Cain". His third novel, "Darker Than Blue" is under consideration for publication. Mr. Stelly currently resides in Pittsburg, California with his three youngest children Dante, Kimberly and Lawrence. Excerpts from The first two books and the first two chapters of his anthology, "Frankenigga--And Other Urban Tales" can be viewed at: stellbread0.tripod.com Email: stellbread@sbcglobal.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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