ORANJESTAD, Aruba (SNARKY) -- Killer television tonight: Joran van der Sloot gives an exclusive interview to ABC News' "Primetime". I predict a veritable slaying of NBC's Olympics because that's what happens to those who oppose the brooding Dutch teen.
Van der Sloot is the prime suspect in the disappearance of promising honor student cum shark food Natalee Holloway. Jesus, why do we still care and why won't this nine month story die already?
It is because the networks know that a blonde girl in distress in an island paradise is ratings gold. Oh, and Holloway's mother, Beth Twitty, and her minions have adroitly worked the media to keep the story prominent. The mass communication theory of "agenda setting" has its fingerprints all over this case.
This is how to run a missing person campaign in the Information Age: issue press releases, serve up delectable sound bites, in other words, do real reporters' jobs for them. The upside is a system receptive to the cause.
The Holloway story has consumed so much air time it's ridiculous. Never mind the other 2,300 adults and children approximately who go missing -- everyday. God help those who aren't blonde haired and blue eyed! If you're black or Hispanic there's almost no hope of any meaningful media coverage of your disappearance.
I feel sorry for Beth Twitty, I really do. But her daughter, naive and irresponsible, made some poor choices that fateful night. Her body, presumably dumped in the ocean, will never be found. And if there is no body, there is no murder. And if there is no murder, there is no killer.
And if there is no killer, then why the hell am I watching ABC tonight?
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Technorati: Natalee Holloway, Joran van der Sloot, Aruba, Lukateake
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