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Agapito Nicolas | via LA Times
While Bachan's death took the media, police and city politicians by storm, Nicolas' barely went noticed. The LA Times yesterday took a deep look into the two cases and found that over 20 officers were assigned to Bachan--a lot of it due to tips from all the media coverage--and Nicolas' case got one. Four weeks after the incident, City Council approved a $50,000 reward to help encourage a tipster come forward, but Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa had still yet to place his signature on it--its final approval to make it become real. In fact, it had sat in Villaraigosa's office for a week until last night, close to 24 hours after the LA Times article exposed went to print, when he finally took action.
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This sounds similar to "missing white girl syndrome".
it wouldve been 100 cops and $100k if it was a cute little puppy
There are a few things going on here. First is the media's focus on Bachan, while largely ignoring Nicolas. But also, why does are police resources being driven by media coverage? This isn't new, and it isn't surprising. But in a case like this, where it's so obvious, it's a good time to ask our law enforcement and government officials why stories with the most entertainment value are the ones given the highest priority.
I agree with both of you. I am quite sure that there are many serious crimes that I don't hear anything about, but short of nationalizing media and instituting regional 24-hour newscasts based on local events, I'm not sure what the solution is. Media remains a for-profit entity (which is good for exposes on government and business corruption) but doesn't always give both sides of the story.
This is exactly what I was upset about when I saw such a large reward being offered. How can they place such vastly different value on people's lives? "Missing white girl syndrome" indeed