I feel bad that something tragic might have happened to Gabby Petito

[edhopper]

But really, is this National News. "Missing White Girl" stories are just sensationalist attention grabbers.

[Doodley]

1. More coverage than nearly 2,300 covid deaths in a day.

[marie999]

2. 600,000 people go missing every year in the U.S.

[Treefrog]

3. First of all, she was no "girl."

She was a 22 year old woman. Would you call a 22 year old male a “boy?” Nah, you wouldn’t.

People show who they are so easily. Smh.

[cinematicdiversions]

4. Well a cute young white girl with a youtube following.

I mean, it is a bit understandable.

[Treefrog]

5. Two people on this thread calling a 22 year old woman a "girl."

Fascinating.

[COL Mustard]

9. If She Was A Black Woman From Inner City Philly

I doubt she'd get nearly as much attention. Hate to say it, but it's probably true.

[cinematicdiversions]

10. I agree. Nt

[edhopper]

6. To get back to my point

I do think the coverage of lurid stories like this outweigh their news value.

I see so many stories posted here on a daily basis that don't get larger coverage, while too much time is devoted to a story like this.

And to a finer point, if this wasn't an attractive young white woman, would anyone take notice.

Should this really be at the top of every Newsfeed?

[gratuitous]

7. I tend to agree with your point

For those of us of a certain (ahem) vintage, there was this guy named Ward Weaver in Oregon who was the last person known to have seen two missing runaway teen-age girls (Ashley Pond and Miranda Gaddis). For a while, his only comment on the missing girls was that they were where they wanted to be, which to my ear has an eerie echo in Brian Laundrie's remarks about Gabby Petito.

In Weaver's case, the bodies of the girls were found on his property, one of them under a freshly poured concrete pad in his back yard. Weaver met with a local TV station reporter for an interview on that pad. Very creepy. I don't know how the Petito situation will play out (I hope she's found safe and sound), but if there has been some foul play, the actions of the entire Laundrie family are going to come under heavy and critical scrutiny.

[mountain grammy]

8. Yes and it does prove the point of the mainstream media..

ratings, ratings, ratings.