A few things to consider:

[1990UMFan]

A few things to consider, creepy as they may be, but:

-How many murders are happening right now, right as I type this or you read this, that will never be solved, that you will never hear about, because of the lack of a show like UM being on the air?

-How many people in the last week, let's say, have mysteriously disappeared, never to be seen or heard from again?

-How many teens have run away from home in the past week, either winding up having a sordid life of being used and abused, or being killed, like Amy Billig?

-How many young girls are being kidnapped and abused as Sharon Marshall, forced into a life of misery?

-How many young women are being abused, tortured, thrown out to sleep in the streets, being set on the path to becoming damaged, sad people like Aileen Wuornos?

-How many serial murderers are active right now, as you read this, planning out their next crime?

It's a very morbid, dark thread, but we focus on so many cases that happened 20, 30 years ago, without perhaps stopping to think that all of the worst nightmares portrayed on Unsolved Mysteries are happening right now, all across America, in big cities and small towns. We focus on cold cases, but there are cases which are totally warm, which someone should focus on.

There's a new Angela Hammond, a new Tammy Lyn Leppert, a new Amy Billig created everyday. Right now, some innocent person somewhere is being raped, murdered, tortured, or has become one of the "missing." And this happened last night, and it will happen somewhere tonight, and tomorrow as well--without end. Innocent, sad lives being extinguished long before their time. Violence and murder can never truly be stopped totally--but they can be combated and lessened. What we should have is

1) Strong methods in place to prevent these senseless tragedies, and to prevent teenage runaways (which STILL happen).

2) A show like UM to tell us about these cases, near and far.

If I had any political power, I'd create a station, a publicly funded station or two (think PBS), which would focus on crimes--Murders, rapes, missing person's cases, etc. If we can have PBS be publicly funded, why not something like this which would also, in it's own way, serve the public? In a way, a channel like "The Unsolved Mysteries" channel would serve the public MORE than PBS.

[Blackout]

the answer is 7

[MegtheEgg86]

Originally Posted by 1990UMFan

1) Strong methods in place to prevent these senseless tragedies, and to prevent teenage runaways (which STILL happen).

What kind of methods?

It's difficult to dramatically decrease the frequency of many of these crimes without severely infringing on individual liberties, and it becomes a question of whether the end justify the means. Sure, you could institute a national curfew, where no one could leave the home after say, 8 PM. But is that inherently good? There is also the problem of the criminally inclined developing strategies around restrictions, as they very often do. What then?

We already have the means to combat the creation of many runaway cases. It's called being a present and involved parent or guardian. Many public health initiatives target this very thing, and many are quite successful at it (I'm particularly impressed with Hawai'i's efforts and outcomes in this regard).

2) A show like UM to tell us about these cases, near and far.

If I had any political power, I'd create a station, a publicly funded station or two (think PBS), which would focus on crimes--Murders, rapes, missing person's cases, etc. If we can have PBS be publicly funded, why not something like this which would also, in it's own way, serve the public? In a way, a channel like "The Unsolved Mysteries" channel would serve the public MORE than PBS.

We already have these things in many, many places. There's a community service channel--funded publicly--in the small Tennessee town I grew up in just outside Knoxville. Runaways, fugitives, and missing persons from our county as well as the neighboring counties are featured along with community announcements such as city council meeting times and the like. I don't know how successful it is. But it's there. I've seen similar things in Arizona, Texas, and Kentucky.

I firmly believe it's all about how involved the individual wants to be. Many of us here can rattle off more than half the names currently on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list. What about the vast majority of the country? I can guarantee you they wouldn't be able to give you a single one, simply because they didn't take the time to acquire that information. That's understandable. One can argue about morality and virtue and what it means to be a good citizen all day, but the fact of the matter is that people more often than not do not involve themselves in combating crime unless they have been personally affected by it in some way--whether they've been victims, their family or friends have been victims, or it's simply just upset their sensibilities.

I reckon those community channels and your hypothetical channel are only as good as the interest they provoke. This is the entire reason why UM and AMW have been cancelled. They lost viewership. They stopped generating the interest they once did.

This ultimately all goes back to what one honestly believes UM and AMW's primary goals were. It was entertainment first, crime-solving second, ESPECIALLY in UM's case. No one is going to watch anything that doesn't entertain them. Ultimately, that's the reason why you and I tuned in to UM in the first place. These were NOT public service/safety programs. They were television shows with Nielsen ratings created by production companies aiming for a profit margin. Period.

That's not to say I advocate taking down those Ten Most Wanted posters in the post office just because "hardly anyone" really studies them, or not running pictures of fugitives on community channels because "no one" is watching them anyway. But if you know a little bit about public broadcasting, you'll understand funding is frequently problematic. Where will you garner your funds? Telethons? Taxes? I'd argue that since I already have access to information about unapprehended criminals and missing persons through the Internet and cable television shows, you don't need my money to help LE solve crime. I already have all the information I as a private citizen "need". I can bring up the Honolulu or Knoxville Police Department's page any time and gain information on cases. I can access Charley Project. I can watch AMW reruns. I can read the posters at the post office.

[UnsolvedMFanatic]

Originally Posted by Blackout

the answer is 7

BA HAHAHAHA! I was SO going to say that same thing as I was reading the posting. Well,not that exact number,I was going to say nine.


When Robert Stack died,he took the worlds will to care about missing and dead folk.

[1990 UM fan]

Originally Posted by UnsolvedMFanatic

BA HAHAHAHA! I was SO going to say that same thing as I was reading the posting. Well,not that exact number,I was going to say nine.


When Robert Stack died,he took the worlds will to care about missing and dead folk.

That's an interesting way to look at it.