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Monday, June 11, 2007

A rich white heiress in jail is more newsworthy than a missing black woman
Posted by Jill | 10:16 AM
This is your "news" media, folks. David Ovalle of the Miami Herald:

I'm livid. I agreed to conduct a last-minute interview with MSNBC about the case of missing Stepha Henry, the 22-year-old college grad who went missing May 29 from Miami-Dade. I rushed to MSNBC's studio but a few minutes before the interview, I was told that it was off -- Paris Hilton coverage was more important.

Turns out, I'm not the only one. Miami-Dade police lead spokeswoman Linda O'Brien was canceled by MSNBC the hour before me. She tells me:

"I am upset because MSNBC called me and asked me to go to their studio in Broward County, 30 miles away from my office. I was there for a total of 45 minutes, was already seated and had the mic ready for the interview. As I waiting to be interviewed, I was listening to the Paris Hilton coverage to include discussion to the effect if anybody had seen or knew the whereabouts of her Chihuahua.

"Then they tell me they have to cut the piece, cut my interview because they’re doing constant coverage of Paris Hilton. I’m appalled that a missing woman cannot get even 60 seconds of air time because the priorities of MSNBC was to have footage of the front gates of Paris Hilton’s house. They asked me to come to the interview and I’m going out of my way to do every interview to keep in the public eye that Stepha Henry, a bright beautiful woman, is missing and we need help in this case."

I’m through with cable TV news. It’s a joke.

For her part, O'Brien tells me she will be on NBC's Today Show at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow with reporter Kerry Sanders. Part of the story will focus on TV media coverage of this missing black woman.


Does anyone doubt that if Stepha Henry were white and blonde, she would merit as much time as Paris Hilton? The whole Hilton circus is disgusting enough, and chillingly reminiscent of the summer of 2001, when the disappearance of Chandra Levy (another young WHITE woman), speculation about her relationship with Gary Condit, and shark attacks saturated the news airwaves. That a network is deliberately refusing to cover the disappearance of a young woman who is just as young, just as pretty, and just as worthy as Natalee Holloway, to run nonstop coverage of the female version of young George W. Bush, tells you everything you need to know about racism in this country.

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