"The Missing" Obsession

In this opinion by Dick Meyer of cbsnews.com, he says that the rates of crime committed are lower than ever before, and that children are safer, happier, and healthier than ever before.

But the media's focus on missing kids and missing (white) women has made crime seem to be worse--much worse. The people of Aruba are sick of Natalee Holloway (as is whoever wrote this article on kuro5shin.org [via metafilter]).

We need some perspective, that's for certain. All these cases are sad and unfortunate, but people go missing every day--some by choice, some not by choice. Amber Alerts are wonderful, and every person found alive is wonderful. But we have to remember that things are not as bad as they are painted by the media.