LAST EDITED ON Oct-16-02 AT 11:20 AM (EST)
Sad, but true: http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=\Nation\archive\200210\NAT20021014a.html
Sniper Steals Spotlight From Kidnapped Kids
By Michael L. Betsch
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
October 14, 2002
(CNSNews.com) - An 11-year-old Missouri boy disappeared outside of his home late Sunday afternoon a week ago, while riding his bicycle. Shawn Hornbeck's father, Craig Akers, says he won't give up hope, but some wonder if the establishment media has given up on its high profile coverage of child abductions.
Charles Pickett, a senior case manager at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), suspects the media has overlooked the Hornbeck case because of his unattractive rural upbringing. But that wasn't the case when 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart was taken from her upscale home at gunpoint June 5th, Pickett said.
The Smart case had an element of intrigue that triggered the national media to react, he said. "And, boy, they sure did jump on that one."
"Here you had a child that lived in a very upscale home in a very upscale community and she was taken out of her bedroom," Pickett said. "You know, how can you take a child out of million dollar home in a community where nothing ever happens and nobody knows anything about it?"
He surmised that media coverage of child abductions "may be like buying real estate - location, location, location."
In the meantime, he said, there were other abducted children around the country that didn't get the same media exposure and assistance that Smart received. --->>>
"It's a good possibility that media sensationalism and how it will be received in the viewers' eyes is very important, maybe, to the media in what type of cases they do profile," Pickett said.
He suspects the sniper crisis that has struck fear throughout the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area is the main reason why the national media has not highlighted any child abductions or issued any AMBER Alerts in recent days. --->>>
Pickett hopes the national media will continue reporting child abductions because, regretfully, they occur on a daily basis. Further, he said, "It's going to be the key to help them bring these children home."
...the barrage of kidnapping stories that flooded the national news last summer were being played for "ratings purposes."
"When you take a story that doesn't have any real impact on any people in other parts of the country and give it to them because it's exciting and dramatic and maybe has some striking visual - that's kind of the definition of 'sensationalism'...--->>"While people can be momentarily fascinated by the specter of children in danger, that's not going to keep your ratings at a peak indefinitely,"...--->
...media's coverage of shark attacks, child abductions, and the sniper all have one common theme - fear.
"People do respond on a very deep, instinctual level to the idea that they're in danger," Naureckas said. "You'll pay attention if you think you're in danger. So, it is one of the most compelling things that you can put on television."
And, the 24-hour cable news stations have discovered that they pull in their best ratings if they only cover one story, he said.--->>>
E-mail a news tip to Michael L. Betsch.