At FWO, we typically report on entertainment, relationship, and fashion news… but sometimes a more serious story or issue hits us and we feel an obligation to discuss it with our readers.  Last week, a 5 year old North Carolina girl was abducted and found dead a few short days later.  Typically, such a story would have made front page news, but for some reason, many people haven’t even heard the story of Shaniya Davis, an adorable little girl who deserved better than the violent ending she met.  There is a growing outrage and concern that Shaniya’s story was not covered adequately because Shaniya was Black.  Here is our take on this very serious matter.

I am writing this piece on behalf of Shaniya Davis, the 5 year old African American girl who was abducted from her North Carolina home and found dead on Monday, November 16.  I am also writing this letter on behalf of all children of color and their families throughout this country. 

So why am I writing on their behalf?

I am writing because I am personally saddened, disappointed, and frankly appalled at the lack of coverage this story has received by so many “major” media outlets.  I happened to come across this story last week, on November 13th, several days after the girl went missing.  I stumbled across her story on a website, where a tiny caption made mention of a “missing girl.”  Curious, I opened the story and read the shocking news of this precious girl’s abduction, and read the frightening details about the hotel video cameras that captured images of a child who matched her description being carried through a hotel corridor by an alleged abductor. 

As a news junkie, I was stunned to learn of the story because I am someone who watches the news daily, tunes into the first half hour of morning news shows before heading out for work each day, and checks for breaking news throughout the day on the internet. But last week was a busy week for me— so I assumed that somehow I’d missed what had certainly been a headline story earlier in the week.  So after reading about this adorable little missing girl, I quickly emailed my circle of friends- thirteen other professional, educated, intelligent and socially aware African American women such as myself- to ask if any of them had heard of the story. None had.  

My heart broke for Shaniya, but my hopes rose that with enough media attention and with the images of her abductor being broadcast, that she would soon be found.  However, I was stunned to find that simple Bing, Google and Yahoo searches on the internet resulted in very few articles on the story.  Searches of ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN websites all resulted in the same meager amount of information on the case.  Moreover, morning news shows, national news shows, and local news programs rarely, if at all, seemed to cover Shaniya’s story, let alone broadcast it as “headline” or “featured” news.  Why is this?

This story is shocking.  It is frightening.  And as the days have passed, it has grown into something truly horrific.  The little information prior to today that I have been able to find on the story has been primarily from small, local North Carolina news websites providing coverage of their community stories.  I am perplexed about why this story- as shocking as it is- was not considered “headline” news.

When the Caylee and Casey Anthony story broke, we were flooded with details of the case for months.  Elizabeth Smart’s story was on every news show and news website for weeks.  In fact, her name is still mentioned regularly on talk shows. Somer Thompson’s tragic story opened up the morning news shows for days on end in recent weeks. And when Reigh Boss (aka Reigh Rockefeller) was abducted by her father, their story rocked the news world for weeks.

I believe that Shaniya’s story has not received the same attention as these girls and other missing children’s stories that have captivated our country because of one simple fact: she is a little Black girl, and not a little White girl. 

For some reason, the disappearance of little Black children doesn’t “captivate” American audiences the same way a missing White, blonde haired/blue-eyed child does. Perhaps our Black children aren’t thought of as “precious.”  Perhaps they are not thought of as “sweet.”  Perhaps they are not viewed as “lovable.”  But based on the lack of headline coverage Shaniya’s story has received, it would certainly appear that most media outlets don’t view them as
IMPORTANT. 

But guess what? The African American community does believe our children are precious, lovable and sweet, and most of all, we DO believe they are IMPORTANT.  Perhaps had little Shaniya’s story received more urgent, headline, and national coverage, she would have been saved. Maybe someone would have recognized her and spotted her sooner with her abductor(s).  Maybe someone would have stepped in to alert authorities to her whereabouts.  Maybe, just maybe, Shaniya would be alive now instead of dead. 

But Shaniya’s story was barely reported upon by many news outlets when she first went missing.  In fact, a simple web search of major news sites shows that her story did not gain momentum until the “child trafficking” twist was revealed.  It seems as though it was only then that her story became bigger news. Why is this? Did her story suddenly become more “newsworthy” because it then “fit” into the stereotype of what is expected from African Americans?  Was it easier to report on the story then because it involved crime, prostitution, drugs and bad parenting? Did it then make more sense (or gain higher ratings) because most news stories about African Americans are only deemed worthwhile if they fit negative, stereotyped images?  Was this little girl’s safety not important before the sordid details of her family’s life emerged? 

I would like for news producers, writers, reporters, hosts and anchors to seriously ponder these very valid questions, especially the next time they deem a story about a missing child of color as “unworthy of headline status.”  Shaniya could have been a headline story.  She should have been a headline story.  But sadly, even in death, she is still not a headline story. 

As of 10 a.m. this morning, a search on the CNN website reveals only FOUR stories about her. FOUR. A search on the CBS website shows that only when information broke regarding the child prostitution twist did they begin to devote more coverage to her story.  The first half hour of this morning’s “Good Morning America” – which usually covers what is considered to be “breaking news” in its first half hour- made no mention of Shaniya’s death today.  Monday evening’s “ABC’s World News with Charlie Gibson” also made no mention of Shaniya’s body being found.  The MSN website’s homepage does not make mention of Shaniya at all today. 

THIS IS TRAGIC.  IT IS BIASED.  IT IS UNJUST.  IT IS UGLY.

I did hear from some friends that NBC’s Today Show did cover the story this morning, and has featured several interviews with key players in the story over the last week.  To them, and to any other media outlet that placed a high level of importance on Shaniya’s tragic case, I say:

“Thank you. Thank you for recognizing that any child who has gone missing is a headline story.  Any missing child, no matter the race, deserves national coverage and deserves our collective efforts to find them and bring them home safely.  ALL children are important, and a child’s worth should never be determined by the color of their
skin.” 

Hopefully, we will remember these very important truths and think of Shaniya the next time a child of color- or any child, for that matter- goes missing. 

May Shaniya’s memory inspire us to advocate more diligently for the safety of every child in the future.  

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