No, The Government Did Not Break Up A Child Sex Trafficking Ring In Georgia

[TygrBright]

From: Huffington Post


This article is one of the best "story behind the story" items I have seen in a very long time. Kudos to author Michael Hobbes, and to HuffPo for running it. This points out exactly how careless media coverage...

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.

...an uncritical social media amplification chamber...

More than 150,000 people shared a single-sentence tweet from someone named King Randall, I: “How is finding 39 missing children in a double wide trailer here in Georgia NOT the biggest news story in America?”

Well, to answer a one-sentence question with a one-sentence answer, 39 kids being rescued from a trailer in Georgia is not the biggest news story in America because 39 kids were not rescued from a trailer in Georgia.

...and America's unwillingness as a culture to grapple with complex social problems...

In the majority of underage sex trafficking cases, Albright said, the child is homeless, has run away from foster care or has been kicked out by their parents, often due to being queer or transgender. Many of these kids end up trading sex for money, drugs or a place to sleep because it’s their only way to survive. Under the legal definition, their “trafficker” could be a pimp but could also be a customer.

...contribute to a real, important, interesting, and tragic story becoming part of the problem rather than a doorway to understanding and motivation to work toward a solution.

The whole article is very much worth a read. It's how journalism should always be, but rarely manages to approach anymore.

appreciatively,
Bright

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

1. Good article.

Thank you for posting that.

[John1956PA]

2. Last week, I was rebuffed by a Fb QAnon propaganda spreader when I corrected them about this lie.

This lie about 39 missing children being found in a double-wide trailer in the state of Georgia is part of the QAnon propaganda which is described in the video at the following DU post:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1017&pid=604387 .

The right-wing believers of such propaganda can not be talked out of it, and they continue to spread it on Facebook in an effort to harm our chances in the November election.

[The Genealogist]

3. I haven't had to see this one today

Just one that was screeching that Trump is the first president to ever go after sex traffickers. God the willful ignorance burns.