- We know that mainstream media coverage has more than its share of subplots: biases, formulas and priorities. It’s more than “If it bleeds, it leads.” It’s media’s version of sausage-making. To wit: The disappearance and death of Gabrielle Petito, 22, whose cross-country road trip with her fiancé and de facto murder suspect, Brian Laundrie, has seemingly captivated the country. Relentless round-the-clock news alerts have become part of the news cycle. It looks like a Netflix movie.
It’s now prompted another look at “missing white woman syndrome.” In short, it’s stop-the-presses news when a middle-class white woman disappears, but it’s much less newsworthy when people of color turn up missing. For the latter, it amounts to normalizing victimization. Because white women are much more associated with safe environments than females of color, it’s over-the-top coverage and game on. But a life is a life, and a victim is a victim; too bad that can’t resonate with a media that needs compelling story lines, including those steeped in stereotypes.
- Fortune has been changing with the times and is, of course, much more than a magazine. It includes a website, newsletters, videos, podcasts, conferences and the Fortune Connect platform, an online community for execs. Now Fortune, which has been around more than 90 years, has named its first woman editor-in-chief, 35-year-old Alyson Shontell.
- Germany has one of the world’s toughest hate speech laws. It requires Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to remove illegal comments, pictures or videos within 24 hours of being notified about them.
- According to the latest Gallup poll, only 40 percent of Americans now approve of the conservative-dominated U.S. Supreme Court.