CNN Report: Do Missing White Babies Get More Media Coverage Than Minorities?
Missing children have always taken up a significant percentage of non-political media news coverage– whether it be Caylee Anthony or, most recently, Baby Lisa Irwin, who has yet to be found. On CNN this morning, anchor TJ Holmes presented the case of a 5 year old girl named Jahessye Shockley, and asked a question he admitted was uncomfortable: why are the missing children receiving national coverage overwhelmingly white?
Shockley had been missing for some time, and her family has implored the media for coverage, arguing that the fact that she is black has made her less attractive of a news story for national media. The family had contacted an advocate group, Peas in a Pod, for which guest Gaetane Borders spoke and explained to Holmes that the situation was not uncommon. “Any parent of a child that is missing who is of color understands the difference” in the efforts made to find the child, she argues. Holmes struggles to ask the question, and later admits to how uncomfortable the question is, but asked whether “we don’t value, in some way, that little minority child the same as a little white baby.” Borders did believe there was a racial divide, but one that could be overcome with active media attention as CNN was providing now.
The segment via CNN below:
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