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Missing White People News Network

D

dampier

OK, I definitely think I'm dreaming this week, but after a spring of having the news canceled on the 24/7 cable channels because of:

- Terry Schiavo
- CNN breaking an arm patting itself on the back for 25 years and dropping news
- Runaway Bride
- Michael Jackson
- Crime Week/Special Report Documentary Repackages/CSI: Rehash

Now it's clear the news has been completely canceled because of missing white people. If it isn't the girl gone missing on Aruba which Fox is absolutely addicted to covering (Greta "owns this story," much to the annoyance of Bill O'Reilly whose now #2 on Fox, and Geraldo's grandstanding), it's the misdirected cub scout in Utah, and now the two kids in Idaho. You would have thought they kidnapped the Bush twins.

These are all compelling stories to the local/regional markets in which they occur, but it's inexcusable to have Fox and MSNBC race to the bottom of the barrel to see who can outshame themselves with endless coverage of these stories on a national/international level.

Of course, CNN isn't left behind on this, but they're also busily promoting their special military propaganda pieces for the 4th holiday, right down to Wolf Blitzer shamelessly showing himself being photographed by the troops, cheering on his adopted Wolf batallion, and spending more time making himself the story instead of reporting on it dispassionately.

Of course, what's even more shameless is your personal guide to pre-determining whether or not this story gets covered:

1) Is missing person white? If yes, go to two. If no, cancel report and instead show the clip of what Tom Cruise said today.

2) Is missing person blonde? If yes, hire composer for special theme music, insert quarter hour updates. If no, only dwell if it's a missing child.

3) Is missing person a female? If yes, reserve plane tickets to send network reporters into field. If no and this is Fox, check to see if they were from a "red state" and go to 4 if answer is yes.

4) News red alert. Cancel all news. Provide solid coverage. Bring in psychics or John Edwards to see if he can communicate with them. Talking heads and book authors who have no real knowledge of the case are great filler. Rent news copters or buy footage. Engage the Speculatomoter (tm) and provide comfort to viewers by asking questions like, "how long can they live before the wolf pack gets to them," "how many times can the child molestor have sex with the kids before they are found," "we have a exclusive BREAKING NEWS report on this story and then interview the neighbor who says they last saw the kid wearing that spring outfit from Gap, Jr." (Run Gap, Jr. ad).

If the story ends badly, order all female anchors to report to work in black and preferably veiled.

It's nice to know the "news channels" want to make the whole country victims of other people's tragedies by basically shutting down any news reporting and instead run this schlock.... I guess it's time to ask for Al-Jazeera's new English language news channel. I saw it and, OHMYGOD, they were running news. That's well above MSNBC, which is running those moldy repurposed and repackaged Dateline pieces as "documentaries." I'm sure glad there's nothing at all happening in Iraq or whatever that country is we're involved in because that leaves room for that Mary Kay LaTourneau hour long special!!!
 
To explain the origins of todays "all-news networks" please go find a copy of the 1976 motion picture "Network".

Thats pretty much the foundation. And a darn good movie,too
 
> OK, I definitely think I'm dreaming this week, but after a
> spring of having the news canceled on the 24/7 cable
> channels because of:
>
> - Terry Schiavo

Laura Ingraham calls it "Tragedy TV"

"The bubbleheaded bleach blonde comes on at 5
She can tell you 'bout the plane crash with a gleam in her eye
It's interesting when people die
Give us dirty laundry

Can we film the operation? Is the head dead yet?
You know the boys in the newsroom got a running bet
Get the widow on the set, we need dirty laundry"--Don Henley
 
> To explain the origins of todays "all-news networks" please
> go find a copy of the 1976 motion picture "Network".
>
> Thats pretty much the foundation. And a darn good movie,too

Agreed.

"Network" tends to get a play every few months on Turner Classic Movies. According to the TCM website, the next playing is August 28 at 2:30 AM (ET).

I had a little concern when I saw the title of the original post in this thread, but I have to say that I agree with the analysis made by the poster. It does seem that a lot of network news decisions have a racial/ethnic bias component to them at times, and that is rather sad.

Unfortunately, there are always biases in journalism. Some are fair, some are unfair. <P ID="signature">______________


</P>
 
Aruba is a good story

> Now it's clear the news has been completely canceled because
> of missing white people. If it isn't the girl gone missing
> on Aruba which Fox is absolutely addicted to covering (Greta
> "owns this story," much to the annoyance of Bill O'Reilly
> whose now #2 on Fox, and Geraldo's grandstanding), it's the
> misdirected cub scout in Utah, and now the two kids in
> Idaho. You would have thought they kidnapped the Bush
> twins.

The Natalee Holloway disappearance has many elements of a great story.

- She disappears in a foreign tropical paradise where there is almost no crime
- She disappears on what was essentially a school trip
- She was attractive, an "honor student" who planned on going to med school
- The parents and family are telegenic and riled
- The Aruba government is making many mistakes, including arresting two black security guards without any real evidence
- The three suspects are all kids
- The primary suspect is a 17 year old from a wealthy, privileged family, who manages to spend his time drinking, gambling and seducing tourists
- The father of the primary suspect is a local judge, who seems to be covering up his son's involvement -- "no body, no case"
- One of the former suspects, a party boat DJ, is saying that he just made up a story to help out the Kalpoe brothers, whom he did not know
- No body has been found, there are many unanswered questions, and the Aruba government provides little information
- Greta set up a confrontation between Natalee's mother and the Van Der Sloot family

Clearly this is not an ordinary disappearance/murder -- and it warrants continuing coverage....
 
I believe much of the reason for stories such as this is the need to fill 24 hours of programming. These stories do have more emotional leverage, but it's not a new phenomenon; local news deemphasized the common good 30 years ago in favor of fires and blood and dirty laundry.

Has anyone (besides Cal Thomas) noticed an increase in shark attack stories? Remember the last summer we had a lot of shark attck stories? 2001. There was a great hue and cry over coverage of sharks while al-Qaeda was plotting their own attacks and our news media were asleep at the wheel.
 
> OK, I definitely think I'm dreaming this week, but after a
> spring of having the news canceled on the 24/7 cable
> channels because of:
>
> - Terry Schiavo
> - CNN breaking an arm patting itself on the back for 25
> years and dropping news
> - Runaway Bride
> - Michael Jackson
> - Crime Week/Special Report Documentary Repackages/CSI:
> Rehash
>
> Now it's clear the news has been completely canceled because
> of missing white people. If it isn't the girl gone missing
> on Aruba which Fox is absolutely addicted to covering (Greta
> "owns this story," much to the annoyance of Bill O'Reilly
> whose now #2 on Fox, and Geraldo's grandstanding), it's the
> misdirected cub scout in Utah, and now the two kids in
> Idaho. You would have thought they kidnapped the Bush
> twins.
>
> These are all compelling stories to the local/regional
> markets in which they occur, but it's inexcusable to have
> Fox and MSNBC race to the bottom of the barrel to see who
> can outshame themselves with endless coverage of these
> stories on a national/international level.
>
> Of course, CNN isn't left behind on this, but they're also
> busily promoting their special military propaganda pieces
> for the 4th holiday, right down to Wolf Blitzer shamelessly
> showing himself being photographed by the troops, cheering
> on his adopted Wolf batallion, and spending more time making
> himself the story instead of reporting on it
> dispassionately.
>
> Of course, what's even more shameless is your personal guide
> to pre-determining whether or not this story gets covered:
>
> 1) Is missing person white? If yes, go to two. If no,
> cancel report and instead show the clip of what Tom Cruise
> said today.
>
> 2) Is missing person blonde? If yes, hire composer for
> special theme music, insert quarter hour updates. If no,
> only dwell if it's a missing child.
>
> 3) Is missing person a female? If yes, reserve plane
> tickets to send network reporters into field. If no and
> this is Fox, check to see if they were from a "red state"
> and go to 4 if answer is yes.
>
> 4) News red alert. Cancel all news. Provide solid
> coverage. Bring in psychics or John Edwards to see if he
> can communicate with them. Talking heads and book authors
> who have no real knowledge of the case are great filler.
> Rent news copters or buy footage. Engage the Speculatomoter
> (tm) and provide comfort to viewers by asking questions
> like, "how long can they live before the wolf pack gets to
> them," "how many times can the child molestor have sex with
> the kids before they are found," "we have a exclusive
> BREAKING NEWS report on this story and then interview the
> neighbor who says they last saw the kid wearing that spring
> outfit from Gap, Jr." (Run Gap, Jr. ad).
>
> If the story ends badly, order all female anchors to report
> to work in black and preferably veiled.
>
> It's nice to know the "news channels" want to make the whole
> country victims of other people's tragedies by basically
> shutting down any news reporting and instead run this
> schlock.... I guess it's time to ask for Al-Jazeera's new
> English language news channel. I saw it and, OHMYGOD, they
> were running news. That's well above MSNBC, which is
> running those moldy repurposed and repackaged Dateline
> pieces as "documentaries." I'm sure glad there's nothing at
> all happening in Iraq or whatever that country is we're
> involved in because that leaves room for that Mary Kay
> LaTourneau hour long special!!!
>
You are wholly correct. More especially, the Aruba debacle is at the top of Fox's agenda because, as you pointed out, Greta "owns" the story. It is all such tripe. That story and others relegate the actual news value to last place (if there IS any news beyond he said/she said) so that each "news" channel can try to out promote and out hype the competition. Does Greta actually cover very much ground in all the hype interviews she does? Or do field producers set it all up and Greta ascends the throne, picks up the microphone, and ratchets up her "ownership" another notch? The circumstances surrounding the Aruba story are unfortunate, but how much longer will Fox et al go on manufacturing news where the only information is that there's nothing new to report. Fox and all the rest should tell us when news happens and cease providing Greta and company with an extended vacation on the beach while trying to foist it all off on the audience as "news". Pretty soon Fox will be telling us Greta owns Aruba. Oh but wait, it's apparent SHE thinks that's the case now.
 
> > To explain the origins of todays "all-news networks"
> please
> > go find a copy of the 1976 motion picture "Network".
> >
> > Thats pretty much the foundation. And a darn good
> movie,too
>
> Agreed.
>
> "Network" tends to get a play every few months on Turner
> Classic Movies. According to the TCM website, the next
> playing is August 28 at 2:30 AM (ET).
>
> I had a little concern when I saw the title of the original
> post in this thread, but I have to say that I agree with the
> analysis made by the poster. It does seem that a lot of
> network news decisions have a racial/ethnic bias component
> to them at times, and that is rather sad.
>
> Unfortunately, there are always biases in journalism. Some
> are fair, some are unfair.
>

Or as has been repeatedly said, "There is no true objectivity. It resides in the eye of the beholder."
 
> I believe much of the reason for stories such as this is the
> need to fill 24 hours of programming. These stories do have
> more emotional leverage, but it's not a new phenomenon;
> local news deemphasized the common good 30 years ago in
> favor of fires and blood and dirty laundry.
>
> Has anyone (besides Cal Thomas) noticed an increase in shark
> attack stories? Remember the last summer we had a lot of
> shark attck stories? 2001. There was a great hue and cry
> over coverage of sharks while al-Qaeda was plotting their
> own attacks and our news media were asleep at the wheel.
>

There have been plenty shark attack stories every year since. They're "news" gold for the following reasons:

1) By their very nature, they have to take place in vacation spots. Nobody's ever going to complain about going on location to Daytona Beach or Malibu.

2) The victims are generally young, attractive, active people who make good interviews if they survive.

3) Nobody complains about bias except for a few marine biologists that are way to deep into their work . . . well, and Cal Thomas.

For every 1 shark attack, there are 100 dog attacks. However, many of those are some poor kid in a lousy neighborhood who doesn't make good copy. Not to mention that dog lovers freak out if you mention that the animal is going to be killed.
 
Aruba is bad journalism

> The Natalee Holloway disappearance has many elements of a
> great story.

It has many elements of a cheap Made-for-TV Movie. In fact, I expect it to air on Fox sometime this fall - probably the week after the Terry Schaivo movie.

> - She disappears in a foreign tropical paradise where there is almost no crime.
> - She disappears on what was essentially a school trip.

I was on one of those trips when I was in high school. Rule #1 was "Stick together and don't go anywhere alone." Rule #2 was "Don't get too stinking drunk."

> - She was attractive, an "honor student" who planned on going to med school

If she wasn't white and attractive, this story wouldn't have drawn flies.

> - The parents and family are telegenic and riled

And rich. If they were po' folks who live in a trailer park, this story also wouldn't draw flies.

> - The Aruba government is making many mistakes, including arresting two black security guards without any real evidence

Dutch/Aruban law isn't the same as American law. Some folks can't seem to figure that out.

> - The three suspects are all kids

Would it make any difference if they were adults?

> - The primary suspect is a 17 year old from a wealthy, privileged family, who manages to spend his time drinking, gambling and seducing tourists

So? He's certainly not the only one on that island, I'm sure. Would it make a difference if she had been killed (or whatever it turns out to be) by a homeless bum?

> - The father of the primary suspect is a local judge, who seems to be covering up his son's involvement -- "no body, no case"

Like that's never happened in the U.S.

> - One of the former suspects, a party boat DJ, is saying that he just made up a story to help out the Kalpoe brothers, whom he did not know
> - No body has been found, there are many unanswered questions, and the Aruba government provides little information

Since there is little violent crime in Aruba, they have little clue about how to solve it. Being a territory of another sovereign nation, the authorities there don't have to say anything public to any American (read: foreigner).

> - Greta set up a confrontation between Natalee's mother and the Van Der Sloot family

Greta made herself part of the news - a huge journalistic no-no. Even though she isn't a journalist by training, that is the job she is performing for Fox News Channel. I'm really surprised she & Geraldo weren't deported for interfering in a criminal investigation. The Aruban government probably doesn't want any more bad publicity than the're already getting so they're leaving FNC alone.

> Clearly this is not an ordinary disappearance/murder -- and it warrants continuing coverage....

Baloney. Wake me up when she's found - hopefully alive and well, but chances of that are somewhere between slim and none.

This is news, but not even close to important enough to warrant 24/7 coverage. There was much more important news this week, almost all of it coming from the Supreme Court. And BTW, remeber that little skirmish we're fighting in Iraq? That should never be shoved to the back burner. This Aruba story is Michael Jackson-level overkill. Enough already, FNC!

Even worse is now MSNBC is getting in on this already-tired act.
 
> For every 1 shark attack, there are 100 dog attacks.
> However, many of those are some poor kid in a lousy
> neighborhood who doesn't make good copy. Not to mention
> that dog lovers freak out if you mention that the animal is
> going to be killed.
>

And because there are 100 dog attacks for every 1 shark attack...a dog attack is no longer news. An everyday happening does not a lead story make.
 
Re: Aruba is bad journalism

> > The Natalee Holloway disappearance has many elements of a
> > great story.
>
> It has many elements of a cheap Made-for-TV Movie. In fact,
> I expect it to air on Fox sometime this fall - probably the
> week after the Terry Schaivo movie.
>
> > - She disappears in a foreign tropical paradise where
> there is almost no crime.
> > - She disappears on what was essentially a school trip.
>
> I was on one of those trips when I was in high school. Rule
> #1 was "Stick together and don't go anywhere alone." Rule
> #2 was "Don't get too stinking drunk."
>
> > - She was attractive, an "honor student" who planned on
> going to med school
>
> If she wasn't white and attractive, this story wouldn't have
> drawn flies.
>
> > - The parents and family are telegenic and riled
>
> And rich. If they were po' folks who live in a trailer
> park, this story also wouldn't draw flies.
>
> > - The Aruba government is making many mistakes, including
> arresting two black security guards without any real
> evidence
>
> Dutch/Aruban law isn't the same as American law. Some folks
> can't seem to figure that out.
>
> > - The three suspects are all kids
>
> Would it make any difference if they were adults?
>
> > - The primary suspect is a 17 year old from a wealthy,
> privileged family, who manages to spend his time drinking,
> gambling and seducing tourists
>
> So? He's certainly not the only one on that island, I'm
> sure. Would it make a difference if she had been killed (or
> whatever it turns out to be) by a homeless bum?
>
> > - The father of the primary suspect is a local judge, who
> seems to be covering up his son's involvement -- "no body,
> no case"
>
> Like that's never happened in the U.S.
>
> > - One of the former suspects, a party boat DJ, is saying
> that he just made up a story to help out the Kalpoe
> brothers, whom he did not know
> > - No body has been found, there are many unanswered
> questions, and the Aruba government provides little
> information
>
> Since there is little violent crime in Aruba, they have
> little clue about how to solve it. Being a territory of
> another sovereign nation, the authorities there don't have
> to say anything public to any American (read: foreigner).
>
> > - Greta set up a confrontation between Natalee's mother
> and the Van Der Sloot family
>
> Greta made herself part of the news - a huge journalistic
> no-no. Even though she isn't a journalist by training, that
> is the job she is performing for Fox News Channel. I'm
> really surprised she & Geraldo weren't deported for
> interfering in a criminal investigation. The Aruban
> government probably doesn't want any more bad publicity than
> the're already getting so they're leaving FNC alone.
>
> > Clearly this is not an ordinary disappearance/murder --
> and it warrants continuing coverage....
>
> Baloney. Wake me up when she's found - hopefully alive and
> well, but chances of that are somewhere between slim and
> none.
>
> This is news, but not even close to important enough to
> warrant 24/7 coverage. There was much more important news
> this week, almost all of it coming from the Supreme Court.
> And BTW, remeber that little skirmish we're fighting in
> Iraq? That should never be shoved to the back burner. This
> Aruba story is Michael Jackson-level overkill. Enough
> already, FNC!
>
> Even worse is now MSNBC is getting in on this already-tired
> act.
>
It has been turned into a running story because there are within the events the three elements that make tabloid-type "news" people salivate--sex, drugs, and rock & roll. Not to mention that Greta and those of her ilk are really enjoying the extended stay in Aruba. Fox, MSNBC, and the rest give not a whit for the informational value of their coverage. Instead they have deluded themselves into thinking their presence IS the story, and the network brass signed on because they're silly enough to see the whole show as "promotable." It indeed is a shameless display of self promotion. Plus, where else can all the reporters, producers, and crew bask in the sun and sand at someone else's expense? They will keep on telling the bean counters how much the news presence is needed (??), the brass will keep on believing it, and this dog and pony show could go on no telling how long.
 
> And because there are 100 dog attacks for every 1 shark
> attack...a dog attack is no longer news. An everyday
> happening does not a lead story make.
---------
At this time a year ago, the Canadian airwaves were riddled with constant dog attack coverage. Thanks to the media hype, we now have a ban on pit bulls in Ontario.
 
> Has anyone (besides Cal Thomas) noticed an increase in shark
> attack stories? Remember the last summer we had a lot of
> shark attck stories? 2001. There was a great hue and cry
> over coverage of sharks while al-Qaeda was plotting their
> own attacks and our news media were asleep at the wheel.

Not to mention they were also obsessed over Chandra Levy at around the same time.

Chandra who?<P ID="signature">______________
Derek
<a target="_blank" href=http://www.tvvancouver.cjb.net>TV.Vancouver</a>: Covering TV stations in Vancouver, BC</P>
 
WHY Aruba is bad journalism

Digging up an old journalism textbook of mine, the Natalie Holloway story (at least IMO) still doesn't warrant the coverage it's given. It only meets about half (at best) of the six 'news values':

1. Timeliness. The story is timely and does possess everchanging information...albeit very slowly. However, this hasn't stopped the newschannels from re-hyping what's already known and getting a fresh talking head to speculate on said re-hype.

2. Conflict or Controversy. This might be the biggest single reason the Holloway case is getting any coverage at all--it's 'sexy' in the sense that you have the seemingly inept/overwhelmed/unexperienced Aruban law officials, angry and worried family members, colorful suspects, and the implied theories of 'what actually happened' since no one can confirm life or death.

3. Singularity. This news value might be a stretch for the Holloway case. Does this story deviate from the norm? Is it really that unexpected or unusual? I'm willing to say that it is ONLY from the standpoint that it isn't a story that you hear about regularly, nor some of the intricate details. However, it isn't unusual for someone from the United States to be a victim of a potential/confirmed crime (kidnapping? rape? murder?) in a foreign country.

The Holloway story fails newsworthyness (at least nationally) because of its...

4. Impact. While I'm sure most folks are hoping for some sort of good ending to this story, who (in the grand scheme of things) is really affected by it? Natalee Holloway's disappearance affects her closest friends, family, and surrounding community. And that's it. The rest of the potential viewing/listening/reading audience isn't affected.

5. Prominence. How important a person is Natalee Holloway? She's obviously somewhat important to people in metro Birmingham. However, until media outlets decided to dedicate coverage to this story, the majority of readers/listeners/viewers didn't know who she was. She isn't 'important' enough a person to warrant national coverage.

6. Proximity. How close is the story to where most people are? It's not that far away if you live in Alabama (a psychological closeness towards other people from the state/region would count) or near Aruba. But since we're thinking nationally, this isn't an easy question to answer: The only closeness you could count is Holloway and her families' U.S. citizenry--most of America doesn't live in Alabama, nor are they familiar with the goings on in Aruba.

Therefore, by not fulfilling the news values in relation to a national audience, I conclude that the Natalee Holloway case does not warrant the national news attention that it has garnered.

(Sorry about the impromptu essay paper!) <P ID="signature">______________
There's nothing to see here.</P>
 
Re: WHY Aruba is bad journalism

The only real criteria is "is it attracting viewership"? Obviously, rightly or wrongly, it is. <P ID="signature">______________
I'll get back to you when I think of a cute quote</P>
 
Re: WHY Aruba is bad journalism

> The Holloway story fails newsworthyness (at least
> nationally) because of its...
>
> 4. Impact. While I'm sure most folks are hoping for some
> sort of good ending to this story, who (in the grand scheme
> of things) is really affected by it? Natalee Holloway's
> disappearance affects her closest friends, family, and
> surrounding community. And that's it. The rest of the
> potential viewing/listening/reading audience isn't affected.

While you and others may feel detached from the case, that Natalee is in many ways an average person gives the story relevance. She's an attractive, Christian, white, upper-middle-class honor student/party girl from the suburbs, and I think that makes this case appeal to the majority.

Certainly some people may be upset that this is given so much coverage, but that is because they fail to identify with the victim in most of the characteristics.

> 5. Prominence. How important a person is Natalee Holloway?
> She's obviously somewhat important to people in metro
> Birmingham. However, until media outlets decided to dedicate
> coverage to this story, the majority of
> readers/listeners/viewers didn't know who she was. She isn't
> 'important' enough a person to warrant national coverage.

The national media coverage itself gives it prominence. All national news stories about non-celebrity subjects would fail this criterion.

> 6. Proximity. How close is the story to where most people
> are? It's not that far away if you live in Alabama (a
> psychological closeness towards other people from the
> state/region would count) or near Aruba. But since we're
> thinking nationally, this isn't an easy question to answer:
> The only closeness you could count is Holloway and her
> families' U.S. citizenry--most of America doesn't live in
> Alabama, nor are they familiar with the goings on in Aruba.

I would not just limit it to Alabama; there is a strong cultural bond among all southern states. Maybe northerners, left-coasters or emigres in the south don't feel as close to the story. In a broader sense, it is a "red-state story".
 
Re: Aruba is bad journalism

> > - One of the former suspects, a party boat DJ, is saying
> Greta made herself part of the news - a huge journalistic
> no-no. Even though she isn't a journalist by training, that
> is the job she is performing for Fox News Channel. I'm
> really surprised she & Geraldo weren't deported for
> interfering in a criminal investigation. The Aruban
> government probably doesn't want any more bad publicity than
> the're already getting so they're leaving FNC alone.

Maybe Geraldo could draw pictures in the sand of where he thinks she is. He did such a great job for our military. Wait, it's the same Geraldo that couldn't find anything beyond a newspaper in Al Capone's "vault."

> Baloney. Wake me up when she's found - hopefully alive and
> well, but chances of that are somewhere between slim and
> none.

This story ends when the viewer could care less what happened to her - as long as the story goes away. It got that way with Jon Benet Ramsey. The only mission left with that story is keeping that family out of the public spotlight ever again (no run for Congress for HIM!)

> This is news, but not even close to important enough to
> warrant 24/7 coverage. There was much more important news
> this week, almost all of it coming from the Supreme Court.
> And BTW, remeber that little skirmish we're fighting in
> Iraq? That should never be shoved to the back burner. This
> Aruba story is Michael Jackson-level overkill. Enough
> already, FNC!

They blew the Supreme Court story too. It was a RUSH TO PUNDITRY. MSNBC was among the worst... Tucker Carlson phoned in his flash news views (as if the man doesn't phone it in every night anyway), along with a parade of right wing pundits. It was like the Mark Felt story - I thought I was watching CBS News in 1974 on MSNBC. All they had that night was an endless parade of ex-Nixon staffers (with books) attacking Mark Felt for just being in it for the money and book deals (and losing the Vietnam War.) Not a defender to be found on that network.

Brit Hume doesn't even report news anymore on Fox... his reports were an endless opinion festival about evil Democrats.
 
Re: Aruba is bad journalism

> > > - One of the former suspects, a party boat DJ, is saying
>
> > Greta made herself part of the news - a huge journalistic
> > no-no. Even though she isn't a journalist by training,
> that
> > is the job she is performing for Fox News Channel. I'm
> > really surprised she & Geraldo weren't deported for
> > interfering in a criminal investigation. The Aruban
> > government probably doesn't want any more bad publicity
> than
> > the're already getting so they're leaving FNC alone.
>
> Maybe Geraldo could draw pictures in the sand of where he
> thinks she is. He did such a great job for our military.
> Wait, it's the same Geraldo that couldn't find anything
> beyond a newspaper in Al Capone's "vault."

Hey, it was a newspaper and two empty bottles of booze. Give the man some credit. :)

> This story ends when the viewer could care less what
> happened to her - as long as the story goes away. It got
> that way with Jon Benet Ramsey. The only mission left with
> that story is keeping that family out of the public
> spotlight ever again (no run for Congress for HIM!)

John Ramsey's trying to run for office? Gee, I could see that going very well...for his opponents, that is.

>
> They blew the Supreme Court story too. It was a RUSH TO
> PUNDITRY. MSNBC was among the worst... Tucker Carlson
> phoned in his flash news views (as if the man doesn't phone
> it in every night anyway), along with a parade of right wing
> pundits. It was like the Mark Felt story - I thought I was
> watching CBS News in 1974 on MSNBC. All they had that night
> was an endless parade of ex-Nixon staffers (with books)
> attacking Mark Felt for just being in it for the money and
> book deals (and losing the Vietnam War.) Not a defender to
> be found on that network.
>
> Brit Hume doesn't even report news anymore on Fox... his
> reports were an endless opinion festival about evil
> Democrats.

And France-bashing. It's a FNC cliche that either Hume or Smith will slip some sort of subtle jab at Jacques Chirac and his nation of cheese-eating surrender monkeys daily, even though most Americans have long forgotten why we were supposed to dislike them to begin with.

Actually, wasn't CBS pretty liberal in '74? I'd think they'd have taken the pro-Deep Throat stance at the time. . .



>
 
Re: WHY Aruba is bad journalism

> > 5. Prominence. How important a person is Natalee
> Holloway?
> > She's obviously somewhat important to people in metro
> > Birmingham. However, until media outlets decided to
> dedicate
> > coverage to this story, the majority of
> > readers/listeners/viewers didn't know who she was. She
> isn't
> > 'important' enough a person to warrant national coverage.
>
>
> The national media coverage itself gives it prominence. All
> national news stories about non-celebrity subjects would
> fail this criterion.

I disagree here. The national coverage has made her into a public figure, no doubt about that. But celebrity itself doesn't give you any real 'power', it just grants you many more cameras and microphones when you say or do anything. Neither Natalee Holloway nor Paris Hilton can do anything that affects my everyday life like the President or the Governor of Alabama can.

Natalee Holloway is NOT a prominent person.
>
> > 6. Proximity. How close is the story to where most people
>
> > are? It's not that far away if you live in Alabama (a
> > psychological closeness towards other people from the
> > state/region would count) or near Aruba. But since we're
> > thinking nationally, this isn't an easy question to
> answer:
> > The only closeness you could count is Holloway and her
> > families' U.S. citizenry--most of America doesn't live in
> > Alabama, nor are they familiar with the goings on in
> Aruba.
>
> I would not just limit it to Alabama; there is a strong
> cultural bond among all southern states. Maybe northerners,
> left-coasters or emigres in the south don't feel as close to
> the story. In a broader sense, it is a "red-state story".

I think that's a stretch, even looking at it from a regional standpoint rather than a national one. How much are native Tenneseeans or Mississippians affected by this story--or even care?
>
<P ID="signature">______________
There's nothing to see here.</P>
 
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