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Story Request: Balloon Boy and Missing Child Trauma
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bschulte
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| As a result of today's story of the boy thought to be missing in a silver balloon, who turned out to have been hiding in his attic - I've been asked to write a story on Friday about the gut-wrenching trauma of those first minutes when you discover your kid is missing, --and the emotions that pour forth when the kid turns out to have been hiding in plain sight. I remember a distinctly terrifying two or three minutes when I couldn't find my then-toddler in a public area - who was playing a game and hiding and hadn't told us. Anyone willing to share their stories? How do you deal with the aftermath, when you're flooded with relief, but know a lesson needs to be learned not to do something like that again? Call or email me Friday: schulteb@washpost.com, 202 509 3097. |
Anonymous
| Geez, how low can journalism go? Isn't it bad enough that CNN had the horrible watch the balloon boy sensational catch of the day but now the Post is going to do a spin off? I'm canceling my subscription tomorrow. |
Anonymous
| Sorry, OP, but I have to agree. It's not as if there a shortage of real issues to cover. If there's space going to waste, how about more book reviews? |
Anonymous
|
Another agreement.
FWIW, info acquired completely outside the reach of the WaPo. The majority of the paper is a grotesquerie. |
Anonymous
|
OP, I also agree.
I actually think it would be interesting to read people's stories of how horrible it was to fine their child was missing and the panic they went through... then they found their kid and everything was OK. I like to read those on, say, online discussion forums. But the Washington Post? Not so much. |
Anonymous
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Oh come on, why pile on OP? Newspapers have been running stories like this forever. It's called human interest. OP, my baby is still an infant in arms and I'm still just praying he'll never go missing in the first place so thankfully, I don't have anything to add to your story. good luck.
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Anonymous
| Human? Yes. Interest? Not so much. Lazy? Definitely. Choices ilke these are frustrating to many of us who still look to the newspapers for news. (We're a shrinking minority, I know--like the papers themselves.) |
Anonymous
|
Human interest stories would be about newsworthy stories of kids who go missing for significant periods of time, and are found again. Remember that toddler who wandered away from his house and into his neighbors house (they were away for the weekend or something?) Frantic search, later found, I'm not sure after how long, but he had gotten into the cereal, scribbled on the walls, and had had a great time apparently. Wirth writing about.
Mom losing her kid in the store, at the park, etc? For three minutes? Not so much a story. Even if you group them all together and write about it. |
Anonymous
| I'm really pissed off about being made to feel horrible for a boy who wasn't really in danger after all and was probably used by his family to get publicity. Not in the mood to share for your story.... |
Anonymous
| These continually requests for info from dumb stories from the washington post is convincing me more and more that I am missing nothing since I cancel my paper delivery! |
Anonymous
| I'm also really tired of all of these requests on DCUM by Wash. Post reporters. How did reporters used to find sources for stories like this in the olden days, before the internet, when the Post was actually worth reading? |
Anonymous
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i don't think the criticism of the reporter is fair. for one thing, journalism has changed quite a bit since the "olden days," as have all forms of communication, so i am just not sure it is appopriate to criticize her for using a communication tool to communicate with people.
also, her job is to pound the pavement and gather information. this is just one form of it. she'd be criticized if she left it out or overlooked it. |
Anonymous
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I don't care whether Wash Reporters post here for sources or not, though it does raise the issue is this the only place some of them are posting, now that would be lazy and not reflective of general interest. My objection is to how the new "journalism" is not journalism at all. When news organizations keep spinning each other stories, even those that are bad or questionable to begin, it is not news at all. In fact the news organizations are now creating the news not reporting it.
A missing child for a few minutes is not really a human interest story. Someone at the Post has realized that since people find info through search and your site coming up on a hit list is a good thing you want to run any angle on something that will be talked about in the next cycle, whether its a good angle or not. I'm sure the news pundits will all be talking about the balloon story today. My favorite is when they act incredibly irresponsible to the point they know everyone realizes this and then in response they put on panelists of journalists to debate whether they are being irresponsible. Ugggh!!!! Its also cheaper to hire people who surf the net and regurgitate stories than actually hiring journalists, staffing foreign stations, and doing research. Sad but news is pretty worthless today. NPR and sometimes the Wall Street Journal are almost the last places to go for real news or well researched and presented pieces. |
Anonymous
One thing you are missing: the opportunity to improve your command of the English language. |
Anonymous
| Sorry OP. Tell your editor this is not news. |