Are you "that" interested in the wherabouts of this Smart girl?

314 is the number I believe I heard yesterday. Yes, I care, but the coverage is absolutely ridiculous.

 

I heard that there are a few reasons for her coverage.

1) The support of the Mormon church and the influence they have

2) The fact that these people are loaded...have you seen their house!?!

I'm sorry she's missing, but the coverage is a bit much. It reminds me of the Jon Benet Ramsey case. Or Chandra Levy. When someone goes missing or is murdered without a trace, and they're rich and have connections, the media gets all over it.

I care, but I don't need 24 hour coverage. Mention new stuff briefly on the news please.

 

forreal
esp when they have NOTHING new to report

Rocket RIver

 

I think it is a good thing. It is symbolic coverage. It is educational for all of us. It is a deterrant for others who might try to do the same. No it won't preclude all abductions, but seeing all the resources that can be thrown into a search must be intimidating.

Sad to say it doesn't seem to be working.

 

if i get stole...

I KNOW you guys will make sure there is 24/7 coverage on me!

 

Symbolic Coverage?


Symbolic . . .yea it says HEY if you gonna steal a child
just make sure it isn't a cute rich white girl. . . .

Poor children are kewl . .cause they won't get this type of press

Rocket River
these is a similar abductions everyday . . . .i have seen NOTHING that makes this one special beyond it's the whole POOR LITTLE RICH girl thing

 

From what I've heard, the less coverage on you, the better

 

Man I wish I was rich. I'd tell my uncle to kidnap me so everyone would know my name.

 

yes, i care. I don't care any more or less about her getting abducted than any other child out there, but I definitely care.

I don't really care to touch on whether or not it's fair the coverage she receives vs. the coverage others get, i just think it's F**KED UP that anyone would do that to a human being, much less a child, regardless of age, race, economic status, whatever.....

 

To be fair, there is one other thing that makes this case (and the San Diego case before it) unusual: the girl's abductor went into the home at night with the whole family present and literally stole her out of bed. I won't say that is a legitimate reason for all the coverage, but I do think that boldness has given the story a lot of staying power.

 

Symbolic meaning that this kind of story needs to be covered in detail and at length and, hopefully, to a positive outcome. They can't follow every abduction in that fashion, so the ones with compelling details stand in for all the other tragedies of similar nature.

That's what a symbol does. As JuanValdez said, this story has compelling detail. It makes it more newsworthy on a national scale.

 

I always wondered what the infatuation with Jon Benet Ramsey was. They cover that case even NOW...I guess maybe because it sounds all mysterious like her parents did it or something, but although it's sad it is still really annoying how the media can go so overboad and sensationalist with certain missing child cases and other stories...

 

The girl abducted by the repeat-offender last year in Houston. Forgot her name. She recieved an unbelievable amount of coverage. They scoured the state for her for a few days and thankfully found her alive near Kerrville. When caught, the abductor shot himself. The girl, hispanic, was reunited with her family. I wish all abduction cases would get much publicity. Some children are put on the back of milk cartons and on the front of flyers. Others on the national news.

ROXRAN- you're acting ridiculous. Rich and white to get your share? We're talking about children who've been abducted, raped and assaulted. What about Baby Doe in St. Louis? She was black and had a compelling story. She got a lot of coverage. Others get local coverage. Some get hardly any. So much resentment for a little white girl who has probably been raped and killed. You're scaring me my friend.

 

On another note... I think if I ever ran into a child sex offender and knew it, I would have a hard time controlling my vengeance. Death and judgement to all pedophiles.

 

I want to affirm a lot of opinions expressed in this thread.

I think it is terrible what's happened to this girl and her family. I don't have much hope that she's still alive, but I hope for her sake and for the sake of her friends and family that she can be safely returned to them. I wouldn't wish this on anyone.

I think having "symbolic" appeal or empathy to those whom the media conceives as viewers has a great deal to do with why Elizabeth Smart is getting coverage and why others are not. And this symbolic appeal has a lot to do with being young, female, middle-class (or upper middle-class), and white, among others. Some elements, like youth, I don't have issues with. Other elements, like being white and middle-class, I do. Society's a lot more complex for us to break this down into simple racial or socioeconomic inequality, but I would argue that the Elizabeth Smart coverage reflects the unequal value American "society" or "media" places on different social dimensions. We do not live in a color-blind society.

 

It's kind of like Columbine. People all over the country thought that School violence started there. Obviously, it was one of, if not the worst cases of school violence, but before it happened in a middle class neighborhood, people in this country didn't really know that kids were being shot by their peers in schools. I'll be reading newspapers and come accross shootings that happened in poor schools, but they don't make it to the national tv or cable news. I turn on the tv though, and you see the stories about shootings in schools from nice neigborhoods, I always picture that one nerdy looking kid with the glasses is in court. My opinion on the abduction is, that they need to give equel attention to all abductions. As for Levy, that story was big because it came out that she had an affair with a congressman. That's another thing, I'm sorry that she died, but she was no angel. As bad as Condit looked for having an affair, people shouldn't forget she was half of that equation.