Sunday, June 19, 2005
Media on a Wild Goose Chase in Aruba
Source: AJC With the unwillingness of officials in Aruba to be forthcoming about info pertaining to the case of the missing Alabama girl, it seems the American media outlets are on a wild goose chase trying to find out anything they can. Below is an exerpt from an article in the AJC on some of the measures the media have to use to chase down the facts:
On Saturday night — in a scene that seemed to sum up every bizarre aspect of the investigation and press frenzy — TV crews chased Paulus Van Der Sloot, a judge, and the father of one of four detained suspects in the case, Joran Van Der Sloot, 17.
The elder Van Der Sloot was coming out of the downtown Oranjestad police station, where he had been brought for questioning in connection with the case.
Seeing the camera crews, he broke into a sprint and a cameraman for CNN caught up to him as he frantically tried to unlock the door of his
Mercedes and drive off.
"Mr. Van Der Sloot!" yelled a CNN cameraman. "Why are you running?"
Government spokesman Rueben Trappenberg said Sunday there are no signs the worldwide publicity, much of it bad, has hurt tourism on Aruba where automobile tags bear the slogan "One Happy Island." But he conceded the furor over Holloway's disappearance has dented Aruba's image as the safest island in the Caribbean.
"I can run you through the list of things we've been misportrayed of, fantastical things, from a high level government cover-up, to drug cartel,
to prostitution and slavery," said Trappenberg." We are not Pirates of the Caribbean."
Through the weekend CNN and FOX — each with crews of about 10 — showed few signs of losing interest in the story that continues to spike ratings even though government officials and lawyers offer few comments or details of the investigation.
Camera crews sometime spend hours just waiting outside the courthouse to hoping to get a shot of a suspect leaving, and a what unsually turns out to be a no-comment from lawyers and prosecutors.
He said the American media should scrutinize its own country as thoroughly as it has examined Aruba. "How many children have gone missing in the United States in the last month?" he said. "You don't hear anything about that."
Another radio host, Dick Miller, who, for 16 years has hosted an nightly music and talk program Canal 90 FM and, for a time, served as
"Honorary goodwill ambassador to Aruba," said listeners have called saying they are distraught that Holloway is missing and distraught that it has happened in Aruba.
"This is a place of hospitality, not hostility," he said. "Nothing like this ever happens and people just don't know how to cope with it. They are extremely concerned about Natalee and her family, but everybody is affected. People can't sleep. It's terrible."
As FOX and CNN have pushed to scoop each they have both made missteps. At one point a week ago there were reports of a body found, a stain identified as blood in the automobile Natalee Holloway allegedly rode in, and a confession from one of the suspects.
None turned out to be true — but that hasn't slowed pursuit of the story. The tabloid TV show "A Current Affair" plans to air an entire program on Aruba on Monday. The National Enquirer had a reporter on the island all week researching a piece.
# posted by ATN @ 8:36 PM 
