Is It About Race or Crime?

America's apparently insatiable appetite for news of abducted white girls has prompted criticism over the seeming dearth of coverage when abductees are black. Readers have noticed, too.

"Do the poor and non-white women not get abducted," asks gmoney06. "It goes to show that the media looks at its audience in racial and classist tones. It assumes that the audience will be more interested in a criminal story if the victim is of certain class or color...I hate to pull the the so called 'race card' when it comes to issues like this because it is unfortunate to have any women victimized, but whether America likes it or not, race and class play too big a part of our society in 2005, and it shouldn't."

It would be hard to argue that the media has never been guilty of racially tinged coverage -- but the Post's ombudsman concludes that wasn't the case when the paper recently covered the killings of a black man and a white man in D.C.

JoeinSilSpr says that the issue is, like most other things, economic, effecting a much wider range than race. "...the proliferation of media has made these decision-makers slaves to the bottom line. They have access to second-by-second ratings and their decisions are driven by ruthless ratings. Missing white women deliver the viewers - coverage of agricultural tariffs has people clicking to one of the other 99 channels."

Lee1946 agrees that money is a factor, but sees its influence a little differently. "I would also like to add that affluence has great influence. Elizabeth Smart....parents upper income. Jon Benet....parents upper income....Adam Walsh....parents upper income. The prejudices are not just skin color, it also has much to do with financial status. Finances can dictate power.....or the lack of it."

By Lindsay Howerton |  September 27, 2005; 8:30 AM ET  | Category:  Courts and Crime
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Posted by: jordan likenhouse | October 11, 2005 11:40 AM

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