BY DENISE CROSBY
The good news is, if I ever turn up missing, there's a better than average chance the press will be all over my case like peanut butter on jelly. I'm a white, middle-class suburban mom, after all. (It would probably help if I were a little younger or richer, but I guess you can't have everything.) Sorry, guys, you may have the edge on a lot of things in life, but I'll end up on Larry King Live.
That's become pretty obvious if you look at local missing-person cases. Compare the coverage Lisa Stebic is getting to the press for Brad Olsen, a 26-year-old Maple Park man missing since January. Or John Spira, a 45-year-old St. Charles man missing since February. White, middle-class women, preferably young, attractive and pregnant or with kids, who come up missing will likely become household names. For example, how familiar are you with the names of Lisa Stebic (or Laci Peterson or Natalee Holloway for that matter)?
What about Tyesha Bell? She's a young black mom from Aurora who has been missing for over four years. Chances are you will never hear her story on CNN. Minority females fall way under the radar (and off camera), as do white men (unless, of course, you get paid a gazillion dollars for hitting, throwing or kicking a ball.) And even less likely to get Matt Lauer to show up are cases involving black or Hispanic men.
It's the editors and producers in TV stations who decide who gets the headlines. That's an awfully hard pill to swallow for families of those who are missing and trying like heck to keep their loved ones' names out there in the public.
Its a sad state of society when your words ring so true not only in our community but in our nation. Isn't it ironic that the only way a males and minority women are part of the news is when they commit crimes.