Did we help?

This is a tough post to write, tough because I am calling into question the actions not only of the media, but of ourselves, in producing a blogswarm to confront the media’s bias in it’s coverage of Latoyia Figueroa versus Natalee Halloway.

Natalee Halloway, white, blond, missing teen in Aruba. A story a major portion of the public can relate to. A story that sends fear in the hearts of parents across the country. Her plight, along with other notable white girls and women who have gone missing, has been all over the news. Developments have been few. But reports have been many. So how much of this reporting offers us “news”? Is there a responsibility for those who portend to bring us journalism while delivering the news? Or is their job to report to us what we want – driven by the voyeuristic instincts that are possibly inside us all – and be rewarded with high ratings?

Anderson Cooper of CNN shockingly almost came out and said as much. A real mind blower considering that CNN is as guilty of this as anyone else. Still a refreshing thing to hear from someone so watched.

Latoyia Figueroa, young, beautiful, pregnant, and…. black… went missing for nine days before Richard Cranium and The All Spin Zone kicked up a blogswarm by publicizing his letter to CNN. It was blunt. It was honest. It inspired bloggers all around Philadelphia to spread the word about Latoyia Figueroa and decry the obvious bias our “news” corporations deliver us. Philly Future played a role in urging folks to get involved. Notably, when SpinDentist, of the All Spin Zone appeared on The Situation With Carlson Tucker he pretty much got Tucker to admit that television news seeks to provide its audience with what it wants – over what it should. Read the transcript – Tucker tried to shape the discussion into one of right vs left instead of press vs ratings and SpinDentist cornered him to say the truth.

The national press responded with coverage of Latoyia Figueroa. And with the increased light – so did our police department – moving the case to the homicide unit so that it had increased resources devoted to it.

Jay Rosen in a recent thought provoking piece at Press Think “Things I Used to Teach That I No Longer Believe” said recently that “For many years I taught in my criticism classes that pointing out bias in the news media was an important, interesting, and even subversive activity. At the very least an intellectual challenge. Now it is virtually meaningless. Media bias is a proxy in countless political fights and the culture war. It’s effectiveness as a corrective is virtually zero.”.

I had to challenge that assertion in his comments thread. After all, this case proves otherwise, but Jay said something that, for a moment, struck me hard: The example you gave of a similar crime the news media isn’t looking into because the victim isn’t a white girl may have been effective, and necessary, and even just, but in making your points did you also say that these kinds of stories, when television news gets ahold of them, are overdone and manipulative no matter what the race of the victim (they exploit the suffering of the families, so as to bring the audience in on the drama) and we should have less of them? That’s what I mean by truth-seeking.

In my criticism of the press, nor in the many others have I read, is this point made: These stories – when television gets a hold of them, can be overdone and manipulative – no matter the race of the victim. They exploit – for ratings – the suffering of families – to bring audience to the drama. There’s a lot of undeniable truth to this.

But there is a bug in me I can’t shake – I can’t help but think that it should not discourage us from trying to do the right thing.

The fact is – here we are. The press – was moved to possibly its better instincts. The All Spin Zone shares with us another example with Bob Costas refusing to host a Larry King segment because it was exploitive. Just the other day Jack Cafferty at CNN confronts Wolf Blitzer on the BTK Killer coverage accusing it of the same.

Maybe something is afoot? We can only hope. Maybe John Stewart’s appearance on Crossfire has had a longer tail then most folks realize. Maybe blogs do have a role in helping shed light on journalists who have lost their way by seeking ratings over substance and on topics that have gotten lost in the noise.

Take, for example, the Be A Witness campaign. An empowered, participatory media – meaning *us* – has a responsibility to each other – to our communities – to the world at large – to speak out. It is not a worthless excercise to try.

It never is.

The other thing I know is that there is a role for blogs in spreading public service news. The All Spin Zone exemplified it and we hope to build a system that will empower blog publishers to take some screen real estate and devote it to them – first with our Missing Persons Network. There are many people in need – not just the young and pretty. And who knows what we can do if we try?

My thoughts again go out to Latoyia Figueroa, her family, and to all suffering similar tragedy.

3 thoughts on “Did we help?

  1. I am an award-winning journalist with a project, Ruminations on America (www.ruminationsonamerica.blogspot.com), for which I have called for essays from coast to coast on the current state of the union and true core America values. You are cordially invited to participate in the project, as many other Americans, from a soldier in Iraq to a Catholic nun in prison for civil disobedience and actor John Ventimiglia of the HBO show The Sopranos already have.

    To participate, submit an essay of no more than 1000 words on issues facing Americans today (for complete rules see the blog), a photograph that conveys a sense of who you are and a brief introduction to your life.

  2. I have to agree with Dan Abram’s response to Anderson, the latter is being a hypocrite (note: he did not include criticsm his own network’s overblown and continuing coverage) and his assertions sound more like bandwagon jumping in an attempt to duck accusations of complicity on his part. The majority of the initial national MSM coverage of Latoyia’s case was more coverage of the debate over disparity in coverage, a little about Latoyia’s disappearance (which prompted the Inky to finally report on the story) and it helped bring a few other stories to light as well. Even in the vast coverage of the discovery of Latoyia’s body yesterday (exponentially greater than her disappearance garnered if you combined all the coverage), there were additional references to less well known cases, reminders of slightly older cases and Natalee Holloway all tied in together. Unlike Natalee & Laci, it never became the neverending and redundant Latoyia show.

    Additionally, it is highly possible that the increased and continued coverage by multiple mediums is what put her alleged killer on the defensive and instigated the actions that lead to the discovery of Latoyia’s remains.

    I’d be willing to bet that in the majority of cases, the victim is missing because (s)he has been murdered, so the need for quick regional media attention is more likely to aid in the discovery of remains and, hopefully, forensic evidence to serve justice. In cases of abduction in which a murder has not occured, the quick response of local & regional media and even minimal coverage by national media is crucial to recovery. I don’t think it’s coincidental that the additional clues that lead to solving Tamika Huston’s disappearance (murder) were uncovered during the periods in which she obtained additional national media coverage (Christopher Hampton stated the publicity got to him and made him uneasy – despite his assertion it was his conscience that bugged him, I think it was really a feeling of fear of discovery brought on by the publicity).

    In short, I think we did help because while I’m sure the end result of death was a given in this case, I highly doubt the answer would have been forthcoming in the near term future without the publicity the press finally gave the case.

  3. Thanks for the invite Rita. I will check out your effort.

    I pretty much agree with all your points Cranky.

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