The Billiken's Bluff

Natalee went missing while vacationing in Aruba on May 30.

And for the past 3 months the Holloway case has been featured everyday on every cable news network. Fox News Channel's Greta Van Susteren pays almost nonstop attention to it:

Demonstrating her priorities, on her “Greta Wire,” Van Susteren posted this email message from a viewer: “While some ratings are going down at Fox News, yours are up! Ratings don’t lie.” This is why Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity have since jumped on the bandwagon with their own stories about Holloway. Hannity sidekick Alan Colmes was even dispatched to Aruba.

An AP story noted that Van Susteren “has been rewarded with her biggest audiences since making the switch from CNN three years ago.” AP said that she averaged nearly 2.2 million viewers a night in July, up 58 percent from the same period a year ago. She has even beaten Bill O’Reilly’s show on Fox News, which used to be the highest rated program on cable news.

Van Susteren says that “I program for the viewers.”

Joe Scarborough explores this topic nightly.



He just explored it now. 5 minutes ago. He is probably still exploring it but I put on the Mets game to stop him. Lost in Paradise. He discussed new allegations brought against Joran Van Der Sloot. He asked Natalee's mom about the possibility of bringing a civil suit against the nightclub that Natalee was abducted from. When she said she was only concerned about finding her daughter, Scarborough probed further. Aren't you mad at Carlos and Charlie for allowing underage kids into the nightclub. Aren't you? You must be.



And I could not less. I mean obviously on one level this is sad, a tragedy. Teenage girl kidnapped/missing/murdered. But, this is a level that doesn't surface, doesn't come into contact with the ebb and flow of my day. However, the media tries and tries and tries to make this story a part of my day.

I try to think why this is A Story. Why people are talking about Natalee's disappearance. Why I am talking about her disappearance.

I have the feeling that Natalee Holloway is probably considered attractive. This may be part of the appeal of the story. Many people look at her picture and think wow what a shame, a beautiful young girl like that cut down in the prime of her life. This is appealing to people. It is a familiar narrative. But I don't buy it. I look at her and all I can think of is that that she has a rather large nose. I don't find her attractive. That is all I'm thinking when I see her picture.

This story is in the same class of news with the disappearance/murders of a number of women - Jon Benet-Ramsey, Laci Peterson, Elizabeth Smart, Chandra Levy.



I didn't want to hear about those stories either.

It's not that I feel I'm above this type of news. It's not that I only concern myself with the West Bank withdrawal, the pending Iraqi Constitution, and China's bid to purchase Unocal Oil. I want to hear about gossip too. The mindless news. I'm not above anything really. I listen to Howard Stern. I watch MTV's Room Raiders. I'm interested, my ears perk up when I hear that Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt are getting a divorce. Or when I find out that Heath Ledger likes to throw eggs at paparazzi. News like this doesn't necessarily captivate me. But, I don't rush to turn it off, tune it out, either.

But, the moment I hear Natalee Holloway I reach for my remote.

I'm not alone, apparently Bob Costas declined to fill in for Larry King because the topic of the show was going to be The Holloway Case.

But, people must care about this case. Otherwise it wouldn't be in the news everyday. Otherwise there wouldn't be correspondents from a dozen channels camped out in Aruba. Otherwise Alan Colmes wouldn't be reporting live from Carlos and Charlie's. Someone is watching.



But why is this a story?