A Black missing woman isn’t worth much to local, national media

A Black missing woman isn’t worth much to local, national media

Posted: Thursday, July 7, 2011 2:13 pm
BY SHANNON WILLIAMS

What do Wanda Campbell, Marilyne Chamberlain and Evelyn Shelton all have in common?

They are all African-American women. Oh...and yeah, they are all missing.

My off-handed and seemingly uninterested comment is not intended to be disrespectful; it is actually to illustrate a point. A point that has been overtly obvious from mainstream media: more often than not - Black individuals who are missing are often ignored by traditional media outlets.

For the past five weeks, I have followed the Lauren Spierer disappearance intently. Every morning as I prepared for the work day I was updated on the latest developments by local news outlets; every evening as I prepared for bed, the same thing: Lauren Spierer updates. I have even seen Lauren Spierer updates on a couple of national media outlets. Oftentimes the "updates" provided were simply to state that there weren't any new developments in the case.

By no means do I think Spierer's disappearance is not newsworthy...quite the contrary. However, what I do believe - and rather strongly so, is that the attention her disappearance has generated is quite the opposite of her Black counterparts. This isn't Spierer's fault, nor is it the fault of any other missing person who happens to be white and typically gets a lot of media attention. This blatant disregard of Black individuals who are missing is mainstream media's fault.

Sunday, authorities were notified of the severely decomposed body of a female that washed up in Fall Creek. Immediately speculation (and hope) linked the body to Spierer.

"Maybe this is the missing IU student's body," some outlets claimed. Others mentioned the name Dorothy Mae Heard, the missing Noblesville great-grandmother who vanished in June. She also is white.

It turns out the dead body was neither woman; preliminary autopsy results revealed that the body was actually that of an African-American female.

This realization of the ethnicity of the corpse was a perfect opportunity for mainstream media outlets, local and national, to profile some of the cases of Black missing women. Instead, their lackadaisical approach disregarded the missing minorities.

Since the body was that of a Black person, and obviously could not be Spierer or Heard's, nothing else mattered. The most important thing locally was Spierer and Heard. Nationally, it was all about Spierer. Never mind the fact there are thousands of Black people missing who may never be found simply because their cases don't get major media attention, thus reducing the opportunity for leads to come in.

I was utterly appalled and incredibly disappointed when I saw the obvious disregard for the Black woman's identity. No one raised the question as to who she was or what could have happened to her. It is as if once they realized the body wasn't Spierer or Heard's, it was nothing more than a useless, dead body. Of all the media outlets that covered the Fall Creek corpse, none...not one, profiled missing African-Americans. None showed images of Black cold cases, and none of them even hinted that they would further investigate.

This type of rejection from other media outlets is why the Black press is so important. We have to tell our story. If not us, then who?

Stories the Recorder publishes on missing African-Americans generates a lot of response from the community. Readers were happy that we took the time to pay attention to the plight in our community. As a result, people often turn to the Recorder when they learn of someone missing. They also provide us with tips on those who are missing.

Hopefully our media counterparts will stop devaluing missing African-Americans and aid in ensuring their safe return.



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