Why you’ve heard of Caylee, but not Brisenia or Marchella

[ehrnst]

<snip>The trial involving Casey Anthony, recently acquitted of murder charges in the 2008 death of her toddler daughter Caylee Anthony by a Florida jury, has made national headlines for months. The story has been a top draw on cable news shows, with CNN’s Nancy Grace taping live from the center of the action in Orlando.

Yet similarly tragic criminal cases involving children – the horrific abuse and death of 4-year-old Marchella Pierce in New York, the murder of 9-year-old Brisenia Flores and her father in Arizona during a home invasion by border vigilantes – have received scant coverage in comparison.

The stories of these three children are equally sad, how they died equally gut-wrenching. One difference is that Caylee was white, Marchella was black, and Brisenia was Mexican American.

Does race and ethnicity factor into how these cases are reported? Kelly McBride, a senior faculty member with The Poynter Institute and one of the nation’s leading experts on media ethics, addresses this and other questions about the coverage disparity and what can be done about it.</snip>


http://multiamerican.scpr.org/2011/07/qa-caylee-brisenia-marchella-and-the-color-coverage-disparity/

[uppityperson]

1. white privilege? nt

[Shandris]

6. I hardly think getting coverage for being murdered is a 'privilege'.

I think they look at which stories are most likely to have either salacious details, or to last the longest. I'm pretty sure race probably plays into it also, but in two different factors.

Factor 1: Obvious racism. Not always applicable, but only an idiot would deny its existence.
Factor 2: The 'majority' truism. A 'pretty white girl' is 'pretty' to the vast majority of their audience. People of ancestry that isn't 'white', however, don't have as much recognition by white people. Not from a racist point of view -- the same is true of Asians viewing whites in Asia, Hispanics viewing whites in Central America, and so forth. The common theme is 'they all look alike to me'. Since the majority of viewers, nationwide, are white...white girls are more likely to carry the story for a long time.

[toddwv]

9. Brisenia was murdered by a "Minutemen" offshoot group.

They also killed her father and shot her mother.



Hardly a peep from the media.

[alstephenson]

14. RIP, sweet Brisenia.

Her "Minutemen" murderers were found guilty and sentenced to death. Very little media coverage of this, even locally.

[Shandris]

16. By a Minuteman group?

Now THAT fits all the criteria that would normally make a big story. :( It doesn't have much 'long-lasting' power, but you'd sure as hell think the 'liberal' media would have been all over it.

I can't see any reason other than overt racism that this one wasn't carried...unless there is either more to the story I don't know (possible but...I don't know, seems pretty cut and dried) or there were 'orders' from 'on high' not to cover it.

Either way, that stinks to high hell.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

2. ask Nancy Grace, seems her nostrils only flare when it involves little white girls.

:shrug:

[laureloak]

3. Some news stories grow legs, others don't. No reason to

read something into it that isn't there.

[ehrnst]

4. Gwen Ifil also commented on the fact that white women - esp pretty ones

who disappear or are murdered get way more press then women who aren't both.

She calls them the "Lacey" stories, because their names seem to all sound like that.

[provis99]

11. Lacey, Mandy, Brittany, etc.

White middle-class parents are annoying.

[Kceres]

5. This is so, so true.

Black children go missing we may or may not hear something for a week or two and that's it. A missing white girl/woman, especially attractive YOUNG women go missing or are murdered and it's a media orgy.

[gvstn]

7. Florida

Has the Sunshine laws that make all phone calls and jail video available for public release. I believe it is one of the reasons "all" the crazy stories seem to come out of Florida. Not so much that Florida is worse than other states but that the media has access to more information.

There is no doubt white kids get more coverage but another factor is how available/interesting the rest of the family is for interviews. The media needs video to put behind the talking heads. It also helps if the circumstances of the disappearance are relatable. So a kid that goes missing in WalMart has drama/fear already built into the story because lots of people go there every week.

[ZombieHorde]

8. Recommended. This pattern has been going on too long to just be a coincidence in my opinion.nt

[Zywiec]

10. Yep, Caylee was the only choice since there haven't been any other

little white girls killed in the last three years.

:crazy:

[freshwest]

12. Yes, it does factor in. Their feelings disregarded, their very lives, dismissed!

[LiberalAndProud]

13. I blame Nancy Grace.

that is all

[Renew Deal]

15. Is there any question about what happened to Marchella Pierce, Brisenia Flowers and her dad?

That's the difference. The Casey Anthony story is part mystery and part outrage for unbelievable behavior.

[yawnmaster]

17. The other stories don't have as much drama. Thats what this is all about. eom