Are news channels exploiting the parents of kidnapped children or helping them?
Asked by
jax1311 (
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)
May 15th, 2012
It seems like almost every other day parents of children who have been kidnapped are on national news stations telling their stories.
I understand that national coverage reaches a broad audience and therefore, in theory, should help in searches for missing children. But, is there any evidence to support that the television coverage actually helps? Is there a higher rate of solving kidnappings that get national media coverage? Or, does it just make for good ratings?
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6 Answers
Neither. They are in the business of making money. It is a soul-less business, run by people who have two things in mind -
1) Does it sell advertising?
2) Will more people watch this channel than the other?
Everything else – morality, justice, decency, is subordinate to the profit motive.
Whether I think they exploit or not is irrelevant. They are going to exploit because it brings eyeballs to the channel – and the question of morality doesn’t enter their minds.
Remember the old adage – If it bleeds, it leads.
Same is true today, but expanded—if it is a child or abuse or particularly salacious, run with it.
In part, it can be helpful to put the children’s photos out there, in case anybody sees them. If it’s even a small chance, it’s worth it. If it were my child missing (God forbid), I would want her photo out there, on every billboard, every milk carton, every possible place her photo could be posted.
They are doing them a solid but I believe they also have other motives.
Every exposure of the incident is helpful in leading to finding the child, the motive of the news station is not relevant.
The number of kidnappings is not related in any way to the amount of news about it.
In my opinion they seem to twist the story alot so by the time it gets to the public it makes no sense. for instance a little girl was taken from a park by a mysterious white car, it then can change to a little girl was walking down the street when a black van took her. and someone can say the guy appeared to look Cambodian but they change it to he looked Hispanic, i mean they never seem to give out the same story, and eventually the news always seems to attack the parents. and with half the town looking for a Cambodian man driving a white van and the other half looking for a Hispanic driving a black car, the whole thing is mixed up and messed up while the little girl is never found :(
thats just my opinion…
I believe it dose help them I would not know
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