“U.S. Marshals Find 39 Missing Children in Georgia During ‘Operation Not Forgotten,’” proclaimed the government’s official press release. Federal agents and local law enforcement, it said, had rescued 26 children, “safely located” 13 more and arrested nine perpetrators, some of whom were charged with sex trafficking.
The facts of the operation weren’t clear (what does “safely located” mean, exactly?), but it didn’t stop media outlets from taking up the story. “Missing Children Rescued in Georgia Sex Trafficking Bust” wrote The Associated Press, a headline dutifully repeated in The New York Times. “39 Missing Children Located in Georgia Sex Trafficking Sting Operation” was People magazine’s version. Few media outlets contributed any original reporting; the vast majority of stories were little more than rewritten versions of the U.S. Marshals Service’s press release.
Within hours, social media users continued the game of telephone. “39 kids were just recovered from traffickers in Georgia,” Charlie Kirk, the founder of the right-wing student group Turning Point USA, wrote in a tweet. “Law enforcement officers saved their lives. How is this not the biggest story in America right now?”
Well written piece. Nice to see other news outlets clarifying and putting proper perspective onto this type of subject matter.
Thanks for the link FAC.
Conclusion of the real matter is take all Millions of $ spent on the SOR and put it into Foster homes and you could save Thousands of children’s lives and help them to have a fulfilling life. Isn’t that better than the way it is now , not saving a single child and destroying hundreds of thousands of children and adults lives.