The Mystery Machine: Why Can't TV News Get Enough of Natalee Holloway?
I had been in New York City for all of a few days when it became clear that even a disaster of inconceivable proportions couldn't dull the finely honed cynicism of the average television news producer.
I was wandering the halls of MSNBC like a lost puppy -- the lack of familiarity only reasonable given that I was in Miami at the time of the of the 9/11 attacks and had been summoned north to my new assignment with almost no warning -- when I came across a couple of my understandably shell-shocked and bleary-eyed co-corkers. We struck up a conversation, the three of us doing our best to prop each other up in the wake of an event that was simply beyond comprehension, when one of them began complaining about the admittedly inhuman hours we had all been forced to work since the attacks. Maybe it was the lack of sleep having its way with me, the result of that 24/7 schedule, but I suddenly found myself biting my tongue to keep from doling out a verbal beat-down in the face of what seemed at the time to be the most horseshit sentiment I'd ever heard.
"Are you kidding me?" I said. "This is what we all signed up for -- a story that actually matters. We're doing something worthwhile here, something we can take pride in, instead of the usual baseless crap we spew out over the airwaves."
I reminded them and myself -- each of us a member of the domestic producer corps -- of the endlessly looping runway walk of a frighteningly clownish JonBenet Ramsey, the constant coverage of Gary Condit's daily microphone duck, the perpetual parade of loathsome, opportunistic degenerates we would gladly cede the air to in the wake of one or another insignificant but sensational story -- all in the name of the almighty Nielsen point. I evoked memories of a time, just a few short weeks prior to 9/11, when there seemed to be an industry-wide effort in television news to convince America that it was about to be eaten alive by sharks.
What this kind of idealism was doing coming from someone like me, I still to this day have no idea. Like I said -- I needed sleep.
I do know, however, that in the days, weeks and months following the September 11th attacks, there was a mandate from audiences and within newsrooms across the country-- one which seemed to herald the death of stupid news.
That lasted, what, about a year-and-a-half or so?
I bring up that all-too-brief return to noble and dignified form in television news because, according to her space on the network's website, Nancy Grace will conduct what I have to assume is her 1,254th interview with the mother of Natalee Holloway tonight on CNN's Headline News. The one-on-one, which I suppose could be called "exclusive" if you stretch the meaning of the word to include just Nancy and every other willing news organization on the planet, will allow prime-time cable's most feckless creature the chance to pick Beth Holloway Twitty's brain in regards to the latest development in the case of her missing daughter; that would be the re-re-re-interview of the Netherlands' answer to K-Fed, Joran Van Der Sloot, in response to the airing of a videotape on Dutch TV which shows Van Der Sloot admitting that he disposed of Natalee Holloway's body not long after she literally died in his arms.
Please understand, I in no way mean to diminish the death of Natalee Holloway; no one would argue that it's unfortunate and tragic. What I'll gladly diminish though is the amount of network airtime that's been devoted to Holloway's disappearance, as well as the absurdly gargantuan level of import placed on the case that's followed it. I would expect rabid, ambulance chasing dingbats like Nancy Grace and her slightly more cosmetically enhanced but no less reprehensible counterpart on Fox News Channel, Greta Van Susteren, to sniff out every insignificant nugget of this nonsense. The fact that one missing blonde girl has been afforded such an appreciable amount of coverage during network "on-hours" however, although not surprising these days, is just damn ridiculous.
Scooby-Doo and the gang don't get this fired-up about a mystery.
In the few short years since 9/11 and the quiet recommitment to quality news that immediately followed it, we've witnessed hours and hours of airtime being hijacked by relative triviality -- from Anna Nicole to Britney Spears to, yes, even Natalee Holloway. We've watched Larry Birkhead, Sam Lufti and Joran Van Der Sloot become pseudo-celebrities -- TV-canonized pop culture idols in the church of the utterly inconsequential.
It leaves me with a serious longing to feel pride again.
And it'd be nice if it didn't take another monumental tragedy to make it happen.
Follow Chez Pazienza on Twitter: www.twitter.com/chezpazienza
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Ms Pazienza,
Of course you realize that in this world some people matter and others do not count?
Well off Americans are a target audience.
One of their innocent children got murdered while on the vacation of a lifetime in a peaceful, rather exclusive, resort.
That is news to the target audience and a tip off as to how cheap life can be especially when you are, "Not in Kansas anymore" no matter how posh the haven seems. Not letting it die is a warning to be careful when traveling as a adventure seeking, trusting youth.
The situation of a woman disappearing from her walk home from a US corporate factory job just over the Mexican border goes unmentioned of course. It is remembered by the people affected, people who have no power or rights.
The kidnapping, murder and torture of many good and innocent people to our south go unnoticed all the time. Surely, they don't matter in the media of which you speak but they matter to someone.
The likes of poor Natalee are part of the target audience for the sponsors..
What is the deal with the Ann Coulters and Greta Van Susterens and Nancy Graces all being lawyers? I don't get it. Why aren't they practicing LAW? My guess is MONEY. They are paid far more to spew their crap on TV than they are paid to act as lawyers. So, Melissa, my guess is they are NOT ashamed of their "work" because they are paid so much money to "act" on TV. I've chosen to watch my local "public television" station because it sounds more like "news".
The 'fluff' is fine on the 'fluff' shows like Greta and Nancy Grace. We can choose not to watch. And they do a fine job of grossly sensationalizing and over-dramatizing crime stories. I’ve always compared watching their shows to reading a paperback detective novel when I need a break from the newspaper. It is a lot like watching CSI, only possibly better because it (presumably) really happened as reported. The true-crime stories are often compelling and we all want to see the dirtbag go down at the end. Snacking on junk food has its place…as long as you’re also digesting some good nourishment along the way.
A good majority of my own circle (including very intelligent friends, family, and colleagues) would prefer to talk about Holloway or even Britney. They become bored or frustrated with other news stories, and particularly view the situation in Iraq as gloomy or inappropriate for conversation. I’ve noticed that I don’t get invited to as many dinner parties when I go around bringing up hard politics. People don’t want to hear about it.
So my question is…Is the media simply giving us what we want…or are they training us to want what they want to give us????
WELL DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT THEN! Do some of your own investigative journalism; talk to your contacts at the networks; try to get substance back in the mainstream media instead of sitting here and villifying coverage of a poor high school girl who was murdered while a small island paradise covered it up. It's easy to throw stones and when you do -- your voice gets caught up in all the other crap that passes for news.
CNN, Fox, MSNBC and every other news organization covering the Natalie Holloway disappearance borders on weird. Nancy Grace and Greta van Sustern are freaks. And their programmers are lazy.
Have you noticed that all stories about missing or murdered women include "American ideal" looking blond women? You never see a story about a missing black woman, or Asian, or Hispanic. It's always white, blond American girls, the kind you want to see in porn.
These news shows, by the way, don't write a whole hell of a lot of the news. It's written by agencies hired to keep these stories in the news. It's not much different than FEMA doing their own news conferences.
News reporting is an important aspect of American media. Can we please put it back in the hands of responsible people?
Why does this surprise you even a little bit? Oh...wait.
C'mon, we see this every night of the week on the broadcast networks.
CSI, Suspicious Minds, Without A Trace, et al, almost always begin with a thin attractive girl stumbling out of a club or party, falling face first from being lethally drugged or getting murdered after sex or in a sexually provactive way...
The Halloway "story" is another titillating detective "drama", but made real.
I worry how the culture is teaching my young nephews what women are for...
TV news covers the Holloway story and other meaningless stories like it in order to AVOID covering real, important news. To strangle democracy and maintain corporate control, you've got to burn up all the oxygen that might be used to tell the public the real news.
The mainstream news sold out on 9-11 in a way that threw their basic mendacity into full view, representing not society at large as they claim, but the views of their owners. When they start covering 9-11 with honesty and due diligence then testimonials might be in order. This article confirms mainstream news is totally out to lunch. They are not even aware of their own prostitution or if they are they can't or do not want to do anything about it.
Some time ago, Natalee Holloway got killed at a tropical resort. Last night, five American soldiers got killed in Iraq. Which is more newsworthy? Which is more tragic? Which story will consume valuable minutes of air time? Oh, my....
No! No! No! this is NOT about Holloway..
Throwing in a story of murder.... makes the news organizations seem ALMOST credible..
Don't blame your incompetence and betrayal to the public as a media rep on Holloway's unfortunate death... blame it on the pathetic detour you took when the Bush administration and special interests pressured you to do so.... and you caved.
YOU and your lack of cohones, are to blame for media stupidity.
Yes, yes... I know it's spelled "cojones."
TV news is aimed at women The network executives believe that women aren't interested in hard news which they find boring and depressing. Instead, they like fluffy soft news, human interest stories. That's why most of prime time evening news looks like the Lifetime channel.
its simple. thanks for writing this article by the way. One, its a distraction and we've come to view television (news or otherwise) as a form of entertainment and not information. Two, its been able to survive for so long because the young, white, preferably blonde female has for centuries, been the image of purity.
I was vacationing in portugal last summer when madalein mccan (the biggest missing girl story in all of europe but not too big in the u.s.) went missing. I remember portugese families on the news outraged because their kids go missing everday but more attention was paid to this little british girl than any missing portugese child.
There's an emotional bond being created and strengthened, subliminally, between the population and the welfare of American purity (imperialism). Dave Chappelle has a great piece in his standup regarding this issue
(after 6 min mark)
http://vid
I do sometimes get frustrated that the "fluff" stories take up so much time amidst other news. I find it incredibly amusing when media personnel openly mock their producers’ choice of story, and complain about having to report on total BS. I guess not everyone can get away with that. And I can see where the networks are coming from. What do people want to see?
This Holloway story is a tragedy. It is not unimportant. But it is being used by America as entertainment. It’s just another type of reality TV that, ironically, operates as a vehicle for our escape from our own reality.
This is no lost cause. There are plenty of Americans who care about the big picture, and there are plenty in the media still doing work they should be proud of.
Some people watch this stuff. Advertisers get networks to cover this stuff because people watch it. I'm sure that advertisers and the government don't help the problem any, and "real news" seldom gets out, but people watch this stuff.
The new princess of the weekly missing white woman.
I have sympathy for this woman's family,and understand their need for closure and justice,but,to be honest,this story is nothing but fluff,meant to distract,and to keep the media from having to earn their pay.
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