Notes From D.R. | Random Thoughts on the Passing Scene

You know it, and I know it–it’s just a matter of time before somebody claims that the media would not have covered the horrific murder of Imette St. Guillen so extensively if she had been black. (3/11/06 update: What did I tell you? Read the fourth letter from the moonbat from Quincy, Mass.)

You may recall that shortly after Natalee Holloway disappeared in Aruba, liberal Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson insisted that her disappearance only received extensive coverage because she was blonde and blue-eyed, asserting that "…the disappearance of a man, or of a woman of color, can generate a brief flurry, but never the full damsel treatment. Since the Holloway story broke we’ve had more news reports from Aruba this past week, I’d wager, than in the preceding 10 years."

You can bet the bank that those of Robinson’s ilk will soon assert that the slaughter of St. Guillen (whose father happened to be a native of Venezuela) would not have received as much coverage if she were African-American.

As Michelle Malkin noted in response to Robinson’s claims about the Holloway coverage, "…I’m not sure, though, how much race is a factor relative to others. Would an overweight, unattractive white girl who went missing get preference over a Tyra Banks-look-a-like?"

Indeed, could it be that St. Guillen’s murder has received so much coverage not specifically because of race, but because it fits into a beautiful-woman-meets-horrible-end template that has been the tabloid media’s bread and butter since the Kitty Genovese era, if not earlier? Not to be cold, but do you really think that if a black woman who looked like, say, Halle Berry or Beyonce Knowles met a similar grisly end, the media would not provide similar saturation coverage?

And if such a murder happened, and the media did not provide wall-to-wall coverage, how would the guardians of the "Fourth Estate"–you know, the ones who always accuse George Bush and conservative Republicans of mistreating blacks–explain such a double standard?

UPDATE: More on St. Guillen’s murder, and the media’s reaction.

SECOND UPDATE: St. Guillen is mourned. More from the New York Post, Daily News and Times.

THIRD UPDATE: St. Guillen’s obituary and funeral. More from the Boston Globe, New York Times, Post, and Daily News.

FOURTH UPDATE: A break in the case? More from the Herald, Times, Post and Daily News.

FIFTH UPDATE: More from the Herald, Globe, New York Post, Daily News, and Times.

SIXTH UPDATE: From the Herald, Globe and New York Times.