christ, a journalist with class

kyoukan · Post by **kyoukan** » August 20, 2005, 3:05 am

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld ... -headlines

Costas Refuses to Host CNN Show About Natalee Holloway
By Matea Gold, Times Staff Writer

NEW YORK -- The cable news fixation on Natalee Holloway's disappearance in Aruba has at least one high-profile dissenter.

Veteran sports broadcaster Bob Costas declined to fill in as a guest host on CNN's "Larry King Live" Thursday night because of the program's focus on the missing Alabama teenager and Dennis Rader, the BTK serial killer.

Costas -- who has been serving as an occasional substitute host for King since June -- bowed out of the Thursday show after he was unsuccessful at persuading producers to change the program's lineup, which included an interview with Beth Holloway Twitty, the mother of the high school senior who disappeared in Aruba in May.

"I didn't think the subject matter of Thursday's show was the kind of broadcast that I should be doing," Costas said in a statement, adding that he "respectfully declined to participate."

"There were no hard feelings at all," he added. "It's not a big deal. I'm sure there are countless topics that will be mutually acceptable in the future."

Senior executive producer Wendy Walker said in a statement that Costas "was not comfortable with the subject matter that we were covering on the show" and called it "a mutual decision" for him to not anchor the program.

Costas' refusal to participate in a show about the Holloway case comes at the end of a summer in which images of the blond teenager have become a staple of cable news programs, despite a lack of d

evelopments in the case. Fox News, in particular, has devoted a substantial amount of time to the story, dispatching "On the Record" host Greta Van Susteren to Aruba for the better part of two months.

While coverage of the Holloway case has drawn strong ratings, critics have decried the amount of time cable news has spent on the disappearance of yet another young white woman, arguing that the media does not put equal resources into covering missing Latinos or blacks.

On Thursday's "Larry King Live," substitute anchor Chris Pixley conducted a lengthy live interview with Twitty, who remains in Aruba looking for her daughter, noting that it had been 81 days since she disappeared. Later in the program, he interviewed Holloway's uncle, a private investigator working on the case, the Holloway family attorney and a forensic pathologist.

The hour-long show concluded with an interview with the children of one of the victims of Rader, who was sentenced in Wichita, Kan., on Thursday.

When he first joined CNN as a substitute for King, Costas -- a well-regarded broadcaster who has spent 25 years at NBC Sports and has anchored the network's Olympics coverage -- called it "an honor" to be asked to fill in for the veteran CNN host.

CNN officials said they expect Costas to host future programs.

Christ, will more of these fucking talking heads on TV and the radio please start doing this?

Sueven · Post by **Sueven** » August 20, 2005, 4:01 pm

I greatly approve of this.

I don't really like discussing the actual case, because I have nothing but contempt and disdain for the girls family, and I'd rather not bash them while they're futilely searching for their dead daughter. I also don't really care what happened to her - thousands of people have been killed in far more unpleasant and tragic situations since she disappeared, and I find it hard to muster excess sympathy for some rich teenager who made bad decisions and got herself into trouble.

I am fascinated by the grip that the story seems to have on the media and the country. I'm very curious as to why this has happened. If anyone on this board cares about the case or has been following the case, I'd be interested to know what about it you find gripping and why you care so much. If anyone (like Voro

) has any insight into the media dynamics that have turned this story into such a frenzy, I'd be very interested to know about that as well.

I bet her family will regret all their attention whoring when this girl turns into the next Jon-Benet Ramsey and, five years from now, they won't be able to go to the grocery store without seeing "NATALEE HOLLOWAY SOLD INTO SEX SLAVERY" blaring at them from the cover of the Enquirer.

Rivera Bladestrike · Post by **Rivera Bladestrike** » August 20, 2005, 4:29 pm

Blonde, hot, rich, drama, teenager, girl, exotic location.... Simple equation to be on TV all the time.

Metanis · Post by **Metanis** » August 20, 2005, 6:36 pm

I agree with Kooky. Shoot me now please...

Arborealus · Post by **Arborealus** » August 20, 2005, 10:05 pm

Sueven wrote: If anyone (like Voro ) has any insight into the media dynamics that have turned this story into such a frenzy, I'd be very interested to know about that as well.

Where would you want to spend your summer...Aruba or Baghdad...

Thess · Post by **Thess** » August 21, 2005, 1:34 am

Sueven wrote: If anyone (like Voro ) has any insight into the media dynamics that have turned this story into such a frenzy, I'd be very interested to know about that as well.

From what I know, when the ratings came out - Greta Van Susteran's (who has only been covering this case) were extremely high.

So like the media has been doing for years now, they all fell in line and copied what she was doing.

Seebs · Post by **Seebs** » August 21, 2005, 2:58 am

Note that the middle class white Lacy Petersen is covered like nobody since Monica Lewinsky and yet the same situation in Philly was a sidebar, subtext and all I can think of why is class and color.
What the media considers 'hot' is mind boggling, but it will usually need to be white, pretty and dead.

Its all sensationalized and I like Costas even more for this move.

Hopefully a tide will turn on Tabloid Journalism.

Fash · Post by **Fash** » August 21, 2005, 4:18 am

Yeah I couldn't pretend like she still might be alive either.

Kelshara · Post by **Kelshara** » August 21, 2005, 11:56 am

Rivera Bladestrike wrote:Blonde, hot, rich, drama, teenager, girl, exotic location.... Simple equation to be on TV all the time.

Add "dumb" to that list.

Seebs · Post by **Seebs** » August 21, 2005, 1:14 pm

Replace 'Dumb' with 'Inexperienced and Horny'.

Arborealus · Post by **Arborealus** » August 21, 2005, 1:57 pm

They should just check the "Girls Gone Wild: Aruba" footage for clues...

Voronwë · Post by **Voronwë** » August 21, 2005, 2:04 pm

"On the Record" with Greta from Fox NEws Channel has been in Aruba all summer on this. I'm sure they're back in NYC now, but she was there in force.

And guess what, it translated into ratings for that show and FNC. That show was beating O'Reilly in "the demo" (Persons 25-54) regularly during the peak of that story's coverage. Which is unheard of. Great basically doubled her ratings for June over the previous year (thats a guestimate, but i think its close).

I heard that Greta's producers were wining and dining the Holloway's all over the island as well to try to keep as much access as possible (widely held as unethical behavior in journalism).

CNN had devoted some resources to covering the case, putting Karl Penhaul - an international reporter in Aruba and having him file reports that were on various shows. Supposedly, CNN US was going to try to cut down on stories of this nature anyway. But part of this particular issue is that the Larry King Live Show (and i'm not telling tales out of school here i think), basically does whatever the hell they want. They will do a story on The Royals whenever they want. If one of Larry's friends is selling a book, look for him to be on the show. O'Reilly basically has the same kind of situation. THat is his hour and he pretty much owns it. He will play nice usually, but its completely a "fiefdom" in every sense of the word.

SO to make a long story longer, i dont know why people are interested in stories like this, but it does translate into ratings. Fox doesn't have to worry about tarnishing its image with 'tabloid-esque' coverage either, so they can go balls-to-the-wall on a story like Aruba.

Burke · Post by **Burke** » August 22, 2005, 5:25 pm

One more reason to like Costas.

Voronwë · Post by **Voronwë** » August 24, 2005, 11:50 am

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/24/arts/ ... 4cost.html

follow up piece in today's NYT for those interested in the story.