Mainstream media shortchange missing Blacks

A composed Thelma Butler, 76, prepared dinner for her family Thursday evening and greeted people with a tender smile as they entered her intimate home in Southwest Washington, DC. But then she broke-down as she recalled the events leading up to the disappearance of her daughter Pamela Butler. Her daughter, 47, a program analyst for the Environmental Protection Agency, is a brown-skinned African-American female, who was last seen February 12, in the 5800 block of Fourth Street in Northwest.

That was also the last time Thelma spoke to her daughter. She said her daughter, and her now ex-boyfriend, were making plans to take her out for Valentine's Day. Butler told her mother that she would pick her up at 3 p.m.

Five days passed and no one heard from Pamela. Derrick Butler, 46, described his sister as "real meticulous and methodical. She follows through on everything," he said.

Derrick sent his sister a text stating if he didn't hear from her he would file a missing persons report followed by an another text saying that their mother was in the hospital. She did not respond and he filed a missing person's report.

Average looking men, women and children from a variety of economic, social and ethnic backgrounds, make up the 102,764 active missing persons as of January 1, according to the National Crime Information Center. However, mainstream media fails to present what is in fact a very diverse missing persons population and many say race is the factor.

Butler's story received local news coverage by the local television networks, News Channel 8, MSNBC and the Washington Post.

News of Butler's disappearance was not reported on the national level but the stories of Chandra Levy, a congressional intern who had an affair with Rep. Gary Condit (D-California), and Laura Garza, a Brooklyn woman who vanished after leaving a Manhattan nightclub with a serial sex offender, were covered in great detail on national networks like CNN.

Garza is often described in the media as a "curly-haired beauty." Garza's name produced 1,800,000 results on Google. Levy's produced 642,000 and Butler's produced 440,000. What's the difference between the three women? According to many, race plays a primary role.

"Media Backtalk," a live discussion with Washington Post columnist and media critic Howard Kurtz, one Washingtonian wrote, "I cannot recollect one case about a young African-American or Hispanic woman/child going missing. Locally, yes. Nationally, no. i.e. the Pamela Butler case in which she has been missing for more than a week. Could you help me understand why the media fails so miserably in this arena?"

Kurtz described it as "the Missing White Women syndrome," and added that the White women "generally have to be middle class, and it helps if they're attractive."

"There is a culture in America that tends to sympathize with the blond White woman instead of the braided Black woman," said Ernie Suggs, a reporter for Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the vice president of print for the National Association of Black Journalists.

According to FBI statistics, in 2008, a total of 778,161 missing person records were entered into the National Crime Information Center's Missing Person File. Thirty-three percent of those missing are African Americans and they are only 12 percent of the U.S. population. Whites make-up 62 percent of the U.S. population and account for nearly 63 percent of the missing victims which includes Hispanics. Males make-up 47 percent of the missing.

In May 2004, Tamika Huston, then 24, disappeared from Spartanburg, S.C. A year later her case received national media attention, not as the story of a missing person but a missing person who was ignored by mainstream media because of her race. Huston was missing for over a year. In August 2005, Huston's boyfriend was charged in her murder.

Media outlets such as "America's Most Wanted" helped authorities by airing Huston's story in March 2005. After the broadcast, an anonymous tipster provided Spartanburg officers with the essential details needed to solve the case.

"Media serves two purposes," Howard said in an interview. "Not only for attention and new information, but it puts pressure on law enforcement in addition to putting pressure on the perpetrator."

"It sounds a public alarm," said Sgt. Noel Leader, a police retiree and co-founder of 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care, an organization founded in 1995, located in Brooklyn, N.Y., to serve as a voice for the Black community in the justice system.

"As soon as you feel as though your loved one is missing, reach out to the local media and news stations," said Rebkah Howard, partner and founder of Image Pro, a public relations marketing firm, in Miami. "Flood them with phone calls and then cast a wider net. Be relentless."

Around the time Huston's story was acknowledged by the media, Natalie Holloway, 18, a White female, vanished during her trip to Aruba in May 2005. Her story immediately took over local and national news stations.

"You would see another family going through the same pain, and you can't fault them," Howard said. "It just makes you so angry. Why do they (missing White females) get around-the-world coverage? What about those other women?"

The issue, Suggs and Leader agree, has to do with the lack of diversity in the newsroom. According to the Radio-Television News Directors' 2007 annual study of diversity, Blacks represent 9.5 percent of those in TV newsrooms, 4.2 percent of TV news directors and 5.4 percent in newsrooms.

"Blacks have to control their own media to print stories that affect us," Leader said. "Until that happens, Black consumers have to pressure papers to address our concerns."

"Everybody is worthy of maximum effort when you're trying to find missing people," said Adams. "It (race) doesn't matter to me. If you're missing, I'm gonna' find you."

A suspect has not been named in Butler's disappearance. Anyone with information is asked to call the Command Information Center at (202) 727-9099. For those who wish to remain anonymous call 1-888-919-CRIME.