parakkum (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} parakkum) wrote,@ 2005-07-03 20:27:00 |
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Missing people and news coverage
As I just noted in the previous post, the top CNN story is about an American student missing in Aruba.
This is not national news -- not unless her abduction is an act of war or terrorism. For reference, here are some figures from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children on how many kids go missing in the United States:
According to NISMART-2 research, which studied the year 1999, an estimated 797,500 children were reported missing; 58,200 children were abducted by nonfamily members; 115 children were the victims of the most serious, long-term nonfamily abductions called "stereotypical kidnappings"; and 203,900 children were the victims of family abductions.
These are just figures for minors, of course, so the total load of missing people will be higher. What makes any one of these more worthy of national news coverage than the others?
As I just noted in the previous post, the top CNN story is about an American student missing in Aruba.
This is not national news -- not unless her abduction is an act of war or terrorism. For reference, here are some figures from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children on how many kids go missing in the United States:
According to NISMART-2 research, which studied the year 1999, an estimated 797,500 children were reported missing; 58,200 children were abducted by nonfamily members; 115 children were the victims of the most serious, long-term nonfamily abductions called "stereotypical kidnappings"; and 203,900 children were the victims of family abductions.
These are just figures for minors, of course, so the total load of missing people will be higher. What makes any one of these more worthy of national news coverage than the others?
