When Alabama teen Natalee Holloway disappeared last year, the major media outlets ran hours of videos on the investigation. Countless inches of text were dedicated to the Robert Blake murder case. Both Holloway and Blake are white and part of the scenario in the media that cause the perception of biased reporting.

Journalism instructor Jason Akst said he isn’t sure if Holloway’s young, attractive teen status was the reason her search was covered so intensely.

“Intentional or unintentional, the composition of the news staff and its consumers can play a factor in what is reported on,” he said. By composition, Akst is referring to the racial makeup and how it can subconsciously influence decisions.

According to a census by the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the percent of minorities in the media has gradually risen in the past 20 years. In 1985, 14 percent of minorities made up the average television news staff, 9 percent at radio and 5.8 percent in newspapers. In 2004, an average television staff was composed of 21.8 percent, 11.8 percent in the radio and 12.9 percent in the papers.

Brian Thornton, associate communication professor and former journalist, said he believes the news consumer is always looking for a bias in journalism but agrees television is biased in terms of showing exciting pictures.

“Because they are driven by pictures, you’ll tend to see more of an emphasis on video they have of the missing person,” he said. “If there is a 350-pound, unattractive man missing and then an attractive blonde missing too, they are going to gravitate toward covering the attractive woman, but then that’s television.”

The general manager for broadcast news for the Northern Television Center, Allen May defended television news and said media does what is in the best interest of the news consumer.

“I think there is numerous factors with the Holloway case that aren’t necessarily related to race that make it a prominent story,” he said. “She was a college girl abducted on Spring Break.”

He pointed out the boys now missing in Milwaukee are an example of a disappearance case that gets enormous coverage because it is a worst-nightmare scenario to any parent. The children were last seen after school going to a park and have not been seen again.

“Are the media filtering out or is it that they are simply reacting to what they know will generate a great level of news interest?” May said. “I’m not saying it is fair on a different level. However, in terms of news interest, some stories always get more play because of the barometer of what people are talking about.”

A Solution

All of the journalists offered solutions to any ethnic issue and changes that could be made to prevent bias in the news.

“As they say in Alcoholics Anonymous, we have to recognize the problem. The media can so easily be manipulated, especially television, by its need for pictures,” Thornton said. “One of the underlying issues is that we need more minorities in the newsroom. Would we be more sensitive to people of our own culture who go missing?”

If there is a problem with bias in news reporting, perhaps not all journalists are aware of it. May said this type of reporting is how journalism has always worked.

“Pretty people make headlines,” he said. “The nature of news has bias built in. If you have a small blip on the screen and you add the factor of status or celebrity, it can change everything.”

Akst agreed and said understanding the situation will help alleviate the problem.

“We as journalists need to do better at understanding and perceiving the bias. Meaning, if we aren’t eliminating it, we are working to illuminate it so we understand what we are dealing with.”