Police charge 2 men linked to Ala. teen’s disappearance

[okieinpain]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8079019/

well now I know what will be the news tomorrow. black men kill white women, man bush could pull out a gun and shoot helen thomas tomorrow and there wouldn't be a peep.

and dear god don't let mike go down at the same time, we won't hear any news again until 08.

[melnjones]

1. oh please...

"“This is a trying time, not only for Aruba but for the world as a whole,” Waymire, originally of Lexington, Tenn. , said during the 10-minute ceremony. “This has touched the lives of millions of people around the world.”"

Bless his heart, their situation is awful, but does he realize what he said?

[Eloriel]

2. You know, I really am having such problems with the way DUers are

responding to this story. Yours probably isn't quite so bad, but I'm sure sensitized to the issue by this time, so it still hits me wrong.

YES, I totally agree, it's never the women of color who are covered extensively, and that's wrong.

YES, I agree, the media jump on stuff like this, sensationalize and over-report, and that's wrong because there are other things that should be covered.

But neither of those problems are the young woman's fault. She's not to blame. It's not her fault she's white instead of a woman of color. It's not her fault the media is screwed up.

Her case shouldn't be ignored because the media is screwed up and she's white, not of color. There IS an absolute epidemic of violence against women in the world, and this is yet another piece of a much bigger picture. Anything that brings attention to that is, IMO, important and valuable and benefits ALL women.

Some of the callousness, disregard and outright derision about THIS woman's disappearance has been disheartening if not more so and is ample evidence of the rampant sexism in our society AND right here at DU: oh, she's a (white) woman, not important. Oh, (another) woman has disappeared, ho hum. Oh, the media is sensationalizing and over-reporting it, so we don't have to pay attention. And then there has been the (sexist) blaming the victim: oh, what did she expect being out late at night, taking off with strangers? What did her parents expect by letting her go?

I'm sorry, this young woman is someone's child and the fact that they are well to do also has garnered some disdain and callous disregard -- sexism and reverse CLASSISM. What we should hope for is similar coverage for EVERYONE who goes missing. What we should hope -- and work for -- is an end to the incredible incidence of violence against women that affects so many mothers' daughters, of all ages, from little girls getting molested and incested, to adult women getting assaulted and raped by dates and partners and strangers, and/or beaten and killed by the men who profess to "love" them.

The attitudes here have NOT been particularly healthy, or encouraging.

[Occulus]

8. I'd like to point something out

I don't have a problem at all with her local media covering it, but the national media is the group hyping this over and over to the rest of the nation and the world. They've latched onto this story- AND the Jackson trial- AND the Schiavo mess- AND Janet's joobie (sorry, I had to alliterate, it's ANOTHER Jackson)....

These companies have moneymoneymoneymoneymoney and instead of spending it giving people what they need to see and hear in the appropriate setting, they give what they already know people will consume. Real news (politics, current events, world affairs, scientific discoveries, biomedical research) isn't sexy, but there's always someone somewhere with a situation that falls into the ratings/advertising/demographic formula, and that's what they're pandering to. That's also where the "attitude" you're talking about is coming from. It's a completely legitimate complaint; we shouldn't know about this woman's disappearance to the degree that we do, and we shouldn't be seeing it on national television to the degree that we are. This is extremely suspicious use of the public airwaves.

I saw this starting way back twelve or fifteen years ago and it's only gotten worse as time goes by. I've completely stopped watching television news for four years or so, and I'm actually better informed now than I was then- so much so, I cannot call what comes out of the Great Glass Teat "news" any more.

[alittlelark]

10. My guess is JADED and disturbed... these events happen

all over this country all the time. They only make the TV if they are white, pretty (or quite young), have a race slant, and are good for weeks (months) of coverage.

If she were my daughter I would be screaming for media coverage... and I would get it. My daughter is a pale skinned, blue eyed, black haired person.... the press would be all over her!

My housekeeper's daughter has black hair, brown eyes, and little $$$ control in her world. She could disappear tomorrow and not one of the 'Big 5' would give a rats ass. She's a way cool kid.

Something stinks to high heaven about all these missing white women.

[LizW]

12. Thank you for this, Eloriel

What a beautiful and rational post.

[ElectroPrincess]

13. In brief, you are FLAME BAITING ... bad! ... but racism does run rampant

within all these "cherry picked" missing children / young women. Funny how the ones that the media chooses to obsess on are not ANY of those concerning people of color. That's not a coincidence.

But let's forgo the haranguing and false sense of indignation that someone dare <shriek> bring up this fact. We are all to sensitive to honestly address an issue with this child still missing.

[LeahD]

25. Thank you, Eloriel. n/t

[bluestateguy]

3. Posting this on LBN only fuels the story

I regard it as not newsworthy.

I'm sorry for the girl and her family, but this nation is at war, and tall tales of missing girls, runaway brides and celebrity show trials are out of place in the current climate.

[chicagojoe]

4. I must agree. n/t

[okieinpain]

5. sorry, but it is breaking news.

[knowbody0]

7. it's just not relative

[okieinpain]

9. maybe so. but it will be the news tomorrow. especially if they

find her body. I'm sad for her family, we were watching tv and on one of the shows the father of a missing girl is heard on her answering machine asking her to pick up the phone. being the father of two girls that is one of my greatest fears.

I don't mean to make this a race issue, but if it turns out these two gents did harm to this girl, well you can imagine that our so called main stream media will ride this one for all it's worth.

[rainbow4321]

26. The three guys they initially questioned..

Are reportedly from "prominent" local families, one being a judge's son..there are Internet rumors/reports going around the crime newsgroups that the two guys now in custody are the fall guys for these 3...Did they ever explain why the hotel cameras never backed up the 3 guys' claim that they brought her back to the hotel?

Whatever the case may be, this is a tragedy for the girl's family/friends.

[brentspeak]

19. This isn't a runaway bride story

It's about a teenager who went on vacation only to very possibly end up murdered. If I was a parent, I'd certainly want to know about this story, especially because Aruba is such a popular vacation spot.

In any case, I find revolting the idea that news stories -- any news stories, but especially those concerning life-or-death situations like this one -- should be buried because it somehow offends the sensibilities of a group of people. People can make up their own mind whether or not they want to read a posted newstory.

[shanti]

20. fwiw

this has happened before in several other caribbean countries. it's only making news because of the small relative size of aruba vs. say, jamaica. a white girl disappeared there a couple of years ago too. it's damage control for the caribbean tourism industry.

[nicholieeee]

6. i completely agree

my prayers are with her and her family....but it's hardly newsworthy. not to mention the hundreds of people that go missing everyday. it frustrates me how stories like this are routinely put on the air over more important issues...i.e. the downing street minutes. the media is ridiculous

[LeahD]

11. I think it's newsworthy, because parents

let their children go on these "sponsored" trips, assuming their children will be chaperoned, protected, safe. I don't know about this instance, but companies make money on packaged trips for high school, college students. The coverage raises awareness about the risks.

[ElectroPrincess]

14. It's not national newsworthy for the simple fact that the teen is 18 y.o.

For right or wrong, she is considered an adult. The parents will NOT be successful if they choose to sue the school. I know age is arbitrary but she is OF LEGAL AGE even though she's still in high school.

[Roland99]

15. ABC's Good Morning America interviewed the family spokesperson

This woman was a living Talking Point and said nothing.

It was ridiculous. I could imagine Charlie Gibson shaking his head and saying, "that was a waste of time".

[ugarte]

16. My problem is with the FBI coming in every time an American dies

It's like Americans are a special category. Kill a local, no big deal, but kill an American, here comes the FBI. Clearly, there is a hierarchy of life on this planet: Americans first, and then everyone else.

[TahitiNut]

17. Are they "Girls Gone Wild" producers?

Ms. Holloway just wanted to be a star. :eyes:

[rocktivity]

18. On Nancy Grace, they thought about the unthinkable

raising the possibility that she's been kidnapped into prostitution. When I saw how startlingly beautiful she was, that's the first thought I had--she could definitely bring top dollar on human market. I pray that those two security guards didn't pass her off to the local pimp.



:headbang:
rocknation

[LisaL]

21. Better they passed her on to a local pimp-than dumped her

body into the ocean.

[Baclava]

22. No place for an 18 year old girl to be alone...

Some people need to wake the fuck up, these little islands are poor, outside the resorts, there is nothing, just goat herding and shit.

It isn't like she was abducted from a swingset in a nice neighborhood in the middle of the day...when you put yourself in that kind of position...bad shit can happen...

She was out doing what kids do, but she was also out on the outer fringes of what's considered keeping herself safe.

She controlled her own destiny with her stupidity. I'm sorry she is missing but I am equally dumbfounded on how an attractive girl can be so fucking stupid. Even the biggest whore will not let three guys take her off by herself.

I'm not trying to say she got what she deserved, or anything of that nature - but she obviously didn't use much common sense. Even if she was of legal drinking age, she really put herself in a compromising position being out that late that far away from home.

I guess common sense falls by the wayside sometimes when you're under the influence. It would make me crazy to be the parent of a teenager in today's times.

[okieinpain]

23. I agree with you, my daughter did something similar and paid for

it. lucky she didn't come up missing.

[LeahD]

24. Naivety..... n/t