Is there a difference in how stories are covered?

[Marie5656]

Though the thought comes from a TV show, I am placng this here. The other night on Without A Trace, there were two missing teens..one Black one White. The miossing white teen got more media coverage, more police time (it seemed) and just more. Do you think this is true in real life? In 2006 are we still so biased that we see (as the black mom put it on tv) a missing black child as less newsworthy than a missing white child? I wish it was not so. What is your take on this?

Yes, there is a difference.
That was one of the first things about this place that I noticed and appreciated. LC and Peg post amber alerts and stories on missing children.. Their concern has always been 'the child', not the color of its skin.

We get fed the excuse that some stories are more newsworthy because they have captured the hearts and minds of a nationwide audience... If you stop and consider that, I would suggest that the stories on 'white children' capture our hearts and attention because of that very news coverage. And because it is natural for us to relate better to those that are similar to our own family situation, rather then the unknown. Reporters, for all that they may strive for unbiased coverage, are human afterall.

[Accountable]

I believe it has to do with the availability of video. We are a televised society. Affluent families have more photos, vacation videos, etc. than poorer families. There's simply more graphic representation, so news crews have more meat to choose from. Also, affluent families can better afford to release one member, usually mom, to pursue the cause - do interviews, public speeches, etc.

So it's not color-based, so much as affluence.

Demographics provide the rest. More affluent people in the US are white, so it is understandable that the majority of reports would be of white people.

[chonsigirl]

Originally Posted by Accountable

Demographics provide the rest. More affluent people in the US are white, so it is understandable that the majority of reports would be of white people.

But it is not even balanced reporting. Since I live in an area where the demographics are different, local news carries stories of all races when there are missing children. Even then it is not truely balanced, because some of the poorer urban areas are not covered equally, or cases that involve other crimes are not played up.

Two examples from my school: one young student of African-American descent-oh he is a sweetheart-was with his father when he was buying drugs. The father was shot and killed in front of him, child was left virtually homeless-but since the story contained a serious crime, there was no media coverage. The student has alternative housing now, and comes to school and staff provides much of his clothing and school supplies that he needs.

Last week, a Caucasian child was home alone with his two sisters-and playing with a lighter, burned down the home. Great TV coverage and outpouring of material items the family needs. This is a good thing, they need it now. But why was he playing with a lighter?

Just seems a little unbalanced here, both children are in need. But the media coverage for the two stories was very noticable, one was aired, the other was not.

[teramiabullfrog]

look at the response to katrina as another example. - one story involved a crime, perhaps law enforcement asked the media to downplay their news coverage because of on-going investigation? until people demand their elected politicians, fix the domestic "issues" (most things described as "issues", by the govt., are problems or even epidemics), especially the "issue" regarding missing children. family members of a reported missing child believe a lot of what's troubling this world could be made better if everyone made an effort to become involved in helping fix the problem with the annual federal funded "help find missing children" program (the "NALC/USPS CHILD ALERT PROGERAM"). THE MONTHLY PRINTED "MISSING CHILD NOTICES" NEED TO BE ON DISPLAY IN EVERY "POST OFFICE LOBBY, WORKROOM FLOOR AREA, AND OTHER POSTAL FACILITY" (as described in the instructions for the operational management of federal national "Programs", established in the 1980's and 90's - regarding missing children). see the thread titled "oprah" in the "missing children" forum for more detailed info about the "NALC/USPS CHILD ALERT PROGRAM".