{"id":58106,"date":"2021-11-24T03:47:56","date_gmt":"2021-11-23T22:17:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/hbo-docuseries-addresses-media-police-bias\/"},"modified":"2021-11-24T03:49:03","modified_gmt":"2021-11-23T22:19:03","slug":"hbo-docuseries-addresses-media-police-bias","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/hbo-docuseries-addresses-media-police-bias\/","title":{"rendered":"HBO docuseries addresses media, police bias"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div>\n<aside class=\"gnt_em gnt_em__fp gnt_em_vp__tp gnt_em__el\" aria-label=\"Video - Gabby Petito: What is Missing White Woman Syndrome and what role does the media play?\"><\/aside>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The flurry of news coverage that followed <a href=\"\/in-depth\/graphics\/2021\/10\/22\/remains-identified-brian-laundrie-maps-and-timeline-events-map\/6122880001\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-t-l=\":b|e|inline click|${u}\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\">Gabby Petito<\/a>Even her father was surprised by her disappearance last summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">&#8220;If you don&#8217;t do that for other people (who) are missing\u00a0that&#8217;s a shame, because it&#8217;s not just Gabby (who) deserves that,&#8221;\u00a0Joseph Petito told the media assembled at\u00a0a Sept. 28 press conference.\u00a0&#8220;Look to yourselves on why that&#8217;s not being done.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Petito, 22, didn&#8217;t return from a summer road trip with her\u00a0fianc\u00e9\u00a0<a href=\"\/story\/news\/nation\/2021\/10\/21\/brian-laundrie-family-attorney-remains-likely-found-florida-park\/6115739001\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-t-l=\":b|e|inline click|${u}\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\">Brian Laundrie<\/a>, \u00a0and was later found <a href=\"\/story\/news\/nation\/2021\/10\/12\/gabby-petito-autopsy-ruling-coroner\/6100694001\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-t-l=\":b|e|inline click|${u}\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\">dead from\u00a0 strangulation<\/a>.\u00a0Her\u00a0sparkling blue eyes, blonde locks and bright smile were fixtures on news programs, just like Natalee Holloway,\u00a0another young, white woman who disappeared in 2005 while celebrating her high school graduation in Aruba.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Rebkah Howard remembers a nation captivated by the Holloway story\u00a0as she fought for national media coverage for her niece\u00a0Tamika Huston\u00a0\u2013\u00a0a 24-year-old Black woman who went missing in 2004 \u2013\u00a0to keep police motivated to solve the case.<\/p>\n<aside aria-label=\"advertisement\" class=\"gnt_m gnt_x gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__al\"><\/aside>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">&#8220;I was sending (press) releases, I was calling producers, I was calling news desks, every network, every website I could think of, and I hit a brick wall,&#8221; the publicist says in HBO&#8217;s docuseries\u00a0&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hbo.com\/movies\/black-and-missing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-t-l=\":b|e|inline click|${u}\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\">Black and Missing<\/a>&#8221; (Tuesday, Wednesday, 8: EST\/PST).\u00a0&#8220;In my mind I&#8217;m thinking, &#8216;Well, here&#8217;s my niece. She&#8217;s young, she&#8217;s beautiful, she&#8217;s missing. Her story is just as compelling.&#8217; The only difference is that\u00a0Tamika&#8217;s Black;\u00a0Natalee Holloway is white.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><strong class=\"gnt_ar_b_al\">Gabby Petito&#8217;s case\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"\/story\/news\/nation\/2021\/09\/24\/gabby-petito-indigenous-people-missing-white-woman-syndrome\/5846283001\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-t-l=\":b|e|inline click|${u}\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\">Indigenous people are now asking how they can &#8216;qualify for&#8217; the same attention.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><strong class=\"gnt_ar_b_al\">It&#8217;s okay<\/strong><a href=\"\/story\/opinion\/columnist\/2021\/09\/22\/gabby-petito-found-missing-people-color\/5798347001\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-t-l=\":b|e|inline click|${u}\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\">\u00a0want justice for Gabby Petito and acknowledge the thousands still missing. We must.<\/a><\/p>\n<aside class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_vp gnt_em_vp__yt\" data-g-r=\"vp_tp\" data-c-vt=\"youtube\" aria-label=\"YouTube video\" aria-live=\"polite\"><a class=\"gnt_em_vp_a gnt_em_vp__yt_a\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LwUX0il8MwQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-g-r=\"vp_tg\" data-c-vpattrs=\"{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;LwUX0il8MwQ&quot;, &quot;id&quot;:&quot;8728418002&quot;}\" aria-label=\"Play YouTube video\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"gnt_em_vp_img gnt_em_vp_img__yn\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/LwUX0il8MwQ\/maxresdefault.jpg\" onload=\"if(this.naturalWidth&lt;200){this.setAttribute(&#039;onload&#039;,&#039;this.classList.remove(&#039;gnt_em_vp_img__yn&#039;)&#039;);this.src=\" https:=\"\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"\"><svg class=\"gnt_em_vp_svg\"><use xlink:href=\"#gnt_svg_video_play\"><\/use><\/svg><\/a><\/aside>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The new\u00a0series focuses on\u00a0the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/blackandmissinginc.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-t-l=\":b|e|inline click|${u}\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\">Black and Missing Foundation<\/a>, co-founded by sisters-in-law\u00a0Natalie and\u00a0Derrica Wilson in 2008, when they noticed the same imbalance for\u00a0Huston, who&#8217;s from Derrica&#8217;s hometown, Spartanburg, South Carolina.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">&#8220;Black and Missing&#8221;This article examines the reasons behind several of these cases. &#8220;cases of missing Black people remain unresolved four times longer than those of white people.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside aria-label=\"advertisement\" class=\"gnt_m gnt_x gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__al\"><\/aside>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Adrien\u00a0Sebro, an assistant professor of media studies at The University of Texas at Austin,\u00a0attributes the gap to media coverage of the victims.\u00a0&#8220;With newsrooms that are largely led by white men,\u00a0it\u00a0often comes up the idea of &#8216;What&#8217;s marketable?&#8217; or &#8216;Who are desired and respectable?&#8217; as far as who&#8217;s going to get attention,&#8221;He said. &#8220;All\u00a0these people who are missing deserve coverage, but there is a very clear over-representation in media when white women go missing and an under-representation when Black, brown or indigenous women go missing.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_img gnt_em_img__inset\"><img class=\"gnt_em_img_i\" style=\"height:451px\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/HBO-docuseries-addresses-media-police-bias.jpg\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Adrien\u00a0Sebro, an assistant professor of media studies at The University of Texas at Austin, believes more media coverage of Black missing persons could shorten the time in which these cases are resolved.\" title=\"\"><\/figure>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Natalie and Derrica were\u00a0&#8220;willing to be the solution,&#8221; Derrica says. &#8220;With my background in law enforcement, (and)\u00a0Natalie&#8217;s background in public relations, those are the two critical professions needed to find our missing individuals.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Adds Natalie Wilson: &#8220;We can name\u00a0the Natalee Holloways, the\u00a0Chandra Levys, the Gabby Petitos.\u00a0This is no disrespect to their families, but our missing matter, too.&#8221;<\/p>\n<aside class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_anc\" id=\"gnt_atomsnc\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" data-gl-method=\"loadAnc\" aria-label=\"Newsletter signup form\"><\/aside>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The FBI\u00a0(using statistics from the National Crime Information Center\u2019s Missing Person and Unidentified Person Files) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fbi.gov\/file-repository\/2020-ncic-missing-person-and-unidentified-person-statistics.pdf\/view\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-t-l=\":b|e|inline click|${u}\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\">Reports<\/a>\u00a0Black people accounted for\u00a032% of the\u00a089,637 missing person cases in 2020, despite accounting for but made up just 12% of the population, according to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.census.gov\/library\/stories\/2021\/08\/improved-race-ethnicity-measures-reveal-united-states-population-much-more-multiracial.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-t-l=\":b|e|inline click|${u}\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\">Census\u00a0data<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">&#8220;As African Americans, we are far more vulnerable to being preyed upon by predators and traffickers, especially when it comes to grooming and luring,&#8221;Natalie speaks in the docuseries. &#8220;These predators know that no one will be looking for these Black children,\u00a0because their lives are not valued.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><strong class=\"gnt_ar_b_al\">The 50 Best\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"\/story\/entertainment\/tv\/2020\/10\/02\/50-best-tv-shows-hbo-max-friends-looney-tunes\/5873285002\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-t-l=\":b|e|inline click|${u}\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\">Watch TV shows right now on HBO Max, from Insecure&#8217; to &#8220;Hacks&#8221;.<\/a><\/p>\n<figure class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_img\"><img class=\"gnt_em_img_i\" style=\"height:351px\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1637705875_141_HBO-docuseries-addresses-media-police-bias.jpg\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Natalie Wilson, co-founder and chief operating officer for the Black and Missing Foundation, is featured in an HBO docuseries about the organization and its battle to amplify missing persons of color.\" title=\"\"><\/figure>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">USA TODAY reporter Derrica Wilson reveals that missing Black people cases are often ignored.\u00a0&#8220;Our children are\u00a0oftentimes\u00a0classified as runaways,&#8221; she says, which means they do not qualify for an Amber\u00a0Alert, an emergency message issued\u00a0when a child is abducted.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">&#8220;When it comes to missing men and women of color, their disappearance is associated with some sort of criminal activity, which dehumanize(s) and\u00a0desensitize(s) the fact that they are missing. &#8220;It starts with law enforcement\u00a0and then it goes, of course, to the media not sharing the cases because the cases are not taken seriously.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The organization helps families with missing children learn how to make their case to the media.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">&#8220;There&#8217;s so many biases:\u00a0if you look a certain way, if you talk a certain way, even\u00a0the photos that we share on social media.\u00a0People won&#8217;t share or like something if it&#8217;s not presentable.&#8221; Natalie says. &#8220;We want the families\u00a0to connect\u00a0with the audience, and we know that they only have a couple of seconds to do so, and we want to change the narrative that the missing person is involved with some type of criminal activity, or their life doesn&#8217;t matter. So\u00a0it&#8217;s so important to make sure that\u00a0they\u00a0can come across a certain\u00a0way.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">&#8220;I&#8217;ll be quite honest,&#8221;She continues to say so. &#8220;as a Black mother, you cannot come across as an angry Black woman, because people tend to see Black women as angry, and we&#8217;re not.\u00a0We&#8217;re frustrated by the system many times.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_img\"><img class=\"gnt_em_img_i\" style=\"height:351px\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1637705876_940_HBO-docuseries-addresses-media-police-bias.jpg\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Sisters-in-law Natalie and Derrica Wilson founded the Black and Missing Foundation in 2008 after noting a discrepancy in coverage for people of color.\" title=\"\"><\/figure>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Gwen Ifill, Journalist, was the first to speak of it.\u00a0&#8220;Missing White Woman Syndrome&#8221;\u00a0at a Unity:\u00a0Journalists of Color conference in 2004. She laughed: &#8220;If there&#8217;s a missing white woman, we&#8217;re gonna cover that, every day.&#8221;But 17 years later &#8220;Black and Missing&#8221;Executive Producer <a href=\"\/story\/entertainment\/tv\/2021\/02\/24\/soledad-obrien-addresses-media-disinformation-congress-hearing\/6804381002\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-t-l=\":b|e|inline click|${u}\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\">Soledad O\u2019Brien<\/a>According to the report, media attention to disparities is limited. &#8220;People only now are starting to say, &#8216;Who are these other women? What&#8217;s happening systemically that they&#8217;re being ignored, or just not being considered?'&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Sebro is grateful for the attention and acknowledges the new awareness<strong><\/strong>Systemic racism, police brutality, and racial injustices.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">&#8220;Media companies know that it&#8217;s time they need to talk about these types of things,&#8221;He said. &#8220;No longer can these things\u00a0be ignored.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><strong class=\"gnt_ar_b_al\">&#8216;Don&#8217;t book liars&#8217;:<\/strong><a href=\"\/story\/entertainment\/tv\/2021\/02\/24\/soledad-obrien-addresses-media-disinformation-congress-hearing\/6804381002\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-t-l=\":b|e|inline click|${u}\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\">Soledad O&#8217;Brien challenges media during House hearing on disinformation<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"gnt_em gnt_em__lp gnt_em_gl gnt_em__el\" href=\"\/picture-gallery\/news\/nation\/2021\/09\/23\/fbi-missing-persons-cases-43-unsolved-cases-need-leads\/5815738001\/\" data-t-l=\":l|l|c|view gallery:inline promo\" aria-label=\"View Gallery - 43 unsolved missing cases the FBI needs fresh leads on\" data-g-r=\"nav_mo\" data-g-tn=\"pgcss\" data-g-mtn=\"pg5815738001\" data-g-moh=\"hpgm\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-expanded=\"false\" onmousedown=\"event.stopPropagation()\" onmouseup=\"event.stopPropagation()\" data-c-id=\"5815738001\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"gnt_em_gl_i\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1637705876_607_HBO-docuseries-addresses-media-police-bias.jpg\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"372\" title=\"\"><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The flurry of news coverage that followed Gabby PetitoEven her father was surprised by her disappearance last summer.\u00a0 &#8220;If you don&#8217;t do that for other people (who) are missing\u00a0that&#8217;s a shame, because it&#8217;s not just Gabby (who) deserves that,&#8221;\u00a0Joseph Petito told the media assembled at\u00a0a Sept. 28 press conference.\u00a0&#8220;Look to yourselves on why that&#8217;s not [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":58107,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[101,3,105,106],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/1637705877_HBO-docuseries-addresses-media-police-bias.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58106"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58106\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralrecorder.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}