The real hostages--why aren't we talking about them?

[BradStevens]

We still have American citizens as hostages in Gaza, taken by Hamas. This doesn't seem like it's covered often in the news. Why?

American families of hostages in Gaza say they don't have time for 'progress' in cease-fire talks

The American families of hostages held in Gaza say they don’t have time for “progress” on a cease-fire deal.

apnews.com

 

[CO. Hoosier]

We still have American citizens as hostages in Gaza, taken by Hamas. This doesn't seem like it's covered often in the news. Why?

American families of hostages in Gaza say they don't have time for 'progress' in cease-fire talks

The American families of hostages held in Gaza say they don’t have time for “progress” on a cease-fire deal.

apnews.com

And 32 Americans were killed in Israel on October 7.

As far as I know, nobody has said their names. Nor do we know the names of the American hostages.

The White House policy is to end the conflict by mobilizing world opinion to force Israel to stop and to gin up sympathy for Gazans. The purpose of the media is to support the Biden administration. Reporting about American deaths, casualties, and hostages at the hands of Hamas is inconsistent with policy.

 

[Marvin the Martian]

We still have American citizens as hostages in Gaza, taken by Hamas. This doesn't seem like it's covered often in the news. Why?

American families of hostages in Gaza say they don't have time for 'progress' in cease-fire talks

The American families of hostages held in Gaza say they don’t have time for “progress” on a cease-fire deal.

apnews.com

A quick Google of "US hostages Hamas" shows stories about them in the media, AP had a story 1 day ago according to Google as did NBC.

We Americans lose interest without a celebrity involved, compare the coverage of Paul Whalen to Greiner.

 

[WhyisIUBBcursed]

A quick Google of "US hostages Hamas" shows stories about them in the media, AP had a story 1 day ago according to Google as did NBC.

We Americans lose interest without a celebrity involved, compare the coverage of Paul Whalen to Greiner.

Bingo

 

[BradStevens]

A quick Google of "US hostages Hamas" shows stories about them in the media, AP had a story 1 day ago according to Google as did NBC.

We Americans lose interest without a celebrity involved, compare the coverage of Paul Whalen to Greiner.

I have no empirical data here. Just a feeling.

Do you think these hostages are getting anywhere near the attention that Iranian ones did? I was young at the time, but it seems like that was in the consciousness a lot more than the Gazan hostages.

Take this board, for example: how many posts concern the hostages? Or the U.S. response to the taking of them?

 

[CO. Hoosier]

A quick Google of "US hostages Hamas" shows stories about them in the media, AP had a story 1 day ago according to Google as did NBC.

We Americans lose interest without a celebrity involved, compare the coverage of Paul Whalen to Greiner.

True dat. Celebrity status affects how the President and government leadership responds which directly increases news coverage. The more politicians have to gain the more they are involved.

 

[CO. Hoosier]

I have no empirical data here. Just a feeling.

Do you think these hostages are getting anywhere near the attention that Iranian ones did? I was young at the time, but it seems like that was in the consciousness a lot more than the Gazan hostages.

Take this board, for example: how many posts concern the hostages? Or the U.S. response to the taking of them?

No they aren’t. The condemnation of Iran and the Mullahs in those days was very strong. I remember “Nuke Iran” sentiment on the CSU campus. Back in those days we didn’t have the internet with foreign and domestic interest groups ginning up political support for Iran. Also, there was no handy third party boogeyman like Israel waging its own war.

@Bowlmania should respond to your question.

 

[Aloha Hoosier]

No they aren’t. The condemnation of Iran and the Mullahs in those days was very strong. I remember “Nuke Iran” sentiment on the CSU campus. Back in those days we didn’t have the internet with foreign and domestic interest groups ginning up political support for Iran. Also, there was no handy third party boogeyman like Israel waging its own war.

@Bowlmania should respond to your question.

The Iranian hostage crisis was covered every night on the evening news shows of ABC, CBS and NBC. They closed with something like “that’s the news for [MONTH DAY], the XXX day of captivity of Americans in Iran.” It was a huge thing. It was a big factor in Carter losing the Presidency in 1980.

 

[CO. Hoosier]

The Iranian hostage crisis was covered every night on the evening news shows of ABC, CBS and NBC. They closed with something like “that’s the news for [MONTH DAY], the XXX day of captivity of Americans in Iran.” It was a huge thing. It was a big factor in Carter losing the Presidency in 1980.

Right. Ted Koppel started his evening ABC news show with that.

 

[Aloha Hoosier]

Right. Ted Koppel started his evening ABC news show with that.

Yeah, I think Walter Cronkite ended The CBS Evening News with something like what I posted. Anyway all three said something about it every night.

 

[CO. Hoosier]

Yeah, I think Walter Cronkite ended The CBS Evening News with something like what I posted. Anyway all three said something about it every night.

What I meant was Nightline on ABC began as a show because of the Iran Hostagees

Nightline - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Aloha Hoosier]

What I meant was Nightline on ABC began as a show because of the Iran Hostagees

Nightline - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

I remember Koppel doing Nightline. Wasn’t sure if he also did the nightly news. Usually watched Cronkite on CBS.

 

[BradStevens]

This is an American citizen:

Hamas releases video of injured Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin

A video released by Hamas' military wing appears to show U.S.-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin delivering a message under duress.

www.cbsnews.com

A U.S. official confirmed to CBS News on Wednesday that there are five U.S. nationals still unaccounted for and presumed to be living hostages in Gaza, including Goldberg-Polin. Three other Americans who were in Israel when Hamas launched its Oct. 7 attack — Itay Chen, Judith Weinstein and Gad Haggai — are presumed dead, but their bodies have not yet been recovered.

 

[zeke4ahs]

I read about them often, but my algorithms show lots of news from Israel. Especially this week with Passover, I’ve seen quite a bit.