Oprah and ratings

Meatwagon

I expected something like this from the talk show circuit, but Oprah???? I thought she was the moral compass of the world or something like that. Even the parents hadn't try to push the issue with their son. Guess she has some payments to make on that new school of hers.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16689051/

farfromglorified

This seems pretty fucked up. Not sure what compels people to parade their child around after this kind of situation. Hopefully here they had good motives and bad judgment, rather than bad motives and good judgment.

Meatwagon

I just can't see going down that road after losing a child for 4 years. I wonder how much $$$$ was involved for them to show up for Big O and tell the tale. I have to admit that I was wondering about the sexual assualt side of this, but was hoping for another good side to this story. Thanks again Oprah!!!!!! Why don't ya stick to giving prizes on your show the already well to do demographic that is your fan base.

_Crazy_Mary_

I, too, was wondering about the sexual side of this, but geez hasn't the kid been through enough?

Two thumbs up, though, for her new school. At least she can do something positive with her $$.

Meatwagon

All girl school at that. That had to piss off the traditionists.

surferdude

Meatwagon wrote:

All girl school at that. That had to piss off the traditionists.

And people who believe in equality of the sexes or humna rights.

evenkat

They are happy to be reunited. The kids seems strong to me. He kept himself alive for 4 years. Who the hell are you people to judge. Give the kid and his family some slack.

Why shouldn't the kid stand happy to be reunited with his family, he and his family have been through a lot. There is no reason to hide in shame, he did nothing wrong.

Everyone thinks they know better. People make me sick. Why don't you lay blame where it belongs with the beast that kidnapped the boys.

Meatwagon wrote:

I expected something like this from the talk show circuit, but Oprah???? I thought she was the moral compass of the world or something like that. Even the parents hadn't try to push the issue with their son. Guess she has some payments to make on that new school of hers.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16689051/

norm

evenkat wrote:

They are happy to be reunited. The kids seems strong to me. He kept himself alive for 4 years. Who the hell are you people to judge. Give the kid and his family some slack.

Why shouldn't the kid stand happy to be reunited with his family, he and his family have been through a lot. There is no reason to hide in shame, he did nothing wrong.

Everyone thinks they know better. People make me sick. Why don't you lay blame where it belongs with the beast that kidnapped the boys.

So it's ok for Oprah to exploit him for her gain. Ok.

evenkat

The kidnapper is the bad guy. You people are confused.

cutback wrote:

So it's ok for Oprah to exploit him for her gain. Ok.

Abuskedti

Meatwagon wrote:

I expected something like this from the talk show circuit, but Oprah???? I thought she was the moral compass of the world or something like that. Even the parents hadn't try to push the issue with their son. Guess she has some payments to make on that new school of hers.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16689051/

Oprah? Moral compas.. she has always been about ratings - and in the saddest way...

I guess however, that kind of makes her the Moral Compass

norm

evenkat wrote:

The kidnapper is the bad guy. You people are confused.

I've just re-read the thread and I don't see where anyone is siding with the kidnapper. I am disgusted at Oprah for using this child's horrible experience for her gain. Maybe in after year, but after one week?!?! Come on.

Brain of J.Lo

Did anyone watch this interview? I had my reservations when I first heard that the family was going to be interviewed on the show. But I decided to watch it anyway, and I felt that the interview was carried out very responsibly.

The fact is, there is no right or wrong way to deal with this insane situation. Only the family in question can make the decision about what is right or wrong, and from everything I've heard, they are working closely with child advocacy groups to determine how to work their way through this situation.

gimmesometruth27

this kidnapper lives about 8 miles from my house. this has been the major story here ever since the second kid was taken 2 weeks ago. the kidnapper has even waited on me several times at the imo's pizza where he worked. i buy alot of music at the music shop right next door to the pizza place so on many occasions i would eat at imo's after buying some music. i never thought anything was suspiscious about him. funny how people like that can be so unassuming.

to answer questions about details of abuse, i spoke with a police officer friend of mine that knows people working on the case. this is a federal case and the FBI is leading the investigation and filing charges so none of the details of abuse will ever be made public until the trial. especially because the abused were minors, and apparently it is illegal to release info about abuse victims. the only reason the public knows any of the details like names and such is that these are of public record since their identities were released when they were abducted. sorry, but the gory details will not be released until there is testimony in a trial, which is then public record. this is what i have been told anyway.

personally i do not want to know details of what happened to them, but i am assuming the worst.

Meatwagon

I was just suprised that it is already on the talk show circuit. We all know what a piece of shit the kidnapper is. That role is pretty obvious. And I'm sure that Oprah is providing a certain amount of profesional care for the family behind the scenes. But still, it points to putting on a parade to get ratings. I still think it stinks, but that is just my opinion.

SPEEDY MCCREADY

that piece of human fucking garbage named OPRAH doesnt give a rats ass about the well-being of that child...

PaperPlates

SPEEDY MCCREADY wrote:

that piece of human fucking garbage named OPRAH doesnt give a rats ass about the well-being of that child...

So you're not a big fan of Oprah then?

even flow?

evenkat wrote:

They are happy to be reunited. The kids seems strong to me. He kept himself alive for 4 years. Who the hell are you people to judge. Give the kid and his family some slack.

Why shouldn't the kid stand happy to be reunited with his family, he and his family have been through a lot. There is no reason to hide in shame, he did nothing wrong.

Everyone thinks they know better. People make me sick. Why don't you lay blame where it belongs with the beast that kidnapped the boys.

So how much money would it take for you to parade your kid on national t.v. after he/she went through something like that? If you put a number on it then you will see where these posters are coming from. I think they get who the bad person really is in this story.

Jeanwah

Everyone who's bashing Oprah fail to remember that the family WILLINGLY went on her show to talk about the abduction. They knew what they were getting into. So quit blaming Oprah. The family had the choice of going public, and going to whatever media outlet they chose. They chose to go on Oprah over every other talk show host, reporter, major news station, etc. Frankly, I would choose her over everyone else too.

SPEEDY MCCREADY

Jeanwah wrote:

Everyone who's bashing Oprah fail to remember that the family WILLINGLY went on her show to talk about the abduction. They knew what they were getting into. So quit blaming Oprah. The family had the choice of going public, and going to whatever media outlet they chose. They chose to go on Oprah over every other talk show host, reporter, major news station, etc. Frankly, I would choose her over everyone else too.

OPRAH would also be my first choice.....

to be strapped on the wing of the SPACE SHUTTLE and then launched into space ....................

ROSIE would be my second choice..........

even flow?

SPEEDY MCCREADY wrote:

OPRAH would also be my first choice.....

to be strapped on the wing of the SPACE SHUTTLE and then launched into space ....................

ROSIE would be my second choice..........

Can you please refer to them in the Cdn names: Doperah and Grossie. Thanks.

Meatwagon

Looks like the parents are hitting Larry King Live next.
http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/larry.king.live/

know1

On a tangent about Oprah:

I find it interesting that people in this country will whine about losing jobs to other parts of the world, yet applaud Oprah for spending $40 million on a school in South Africa.

(and I personally applaud her for it and think that people are people regardless of geographic boundaries invented by humans)

norm

SPEEDY MCCREADY wrote:

OPRAH would also be my first choice.....

to be strapped on the wing of the SPACE SHUTTLE and then launched into space ....................

ROSIE would be my second choice..........

Ya know speed, there are TWO wings - one for opie and one for rosie

norm

know1 wrote:

On a tangent about Oprah:

I find it interesting that people in this country will whine about losing jobs to other parts of the world, yet applaud Oprah for spending $40 million on a school in South Africa.

(and I personally applaud her for it and think that people are people regardless of geographic boundaries invented by humans)

I agree all people need help. But how about putting one of these schools say in Chicago where she does the show. Or find a school that you (Oprah) believes in and give it $40 mil.

know1

cutback wrote:

I agree all people need help. But how about putting one of these schools say in Chicago where she does the show. Or find a school that you (Oprah) believes in and give it $40 mil.

So you think it's more important to help people in America?

evenkat

Kim Evans, family spokeswoman and office manager for the Shawn Hornbeck Foundation, said neither the Akers family nor the foundation received money for appearing on Oprah.

She said other media outlets offered to pay for the first interview, but the family chose to go on Oprah because they hoped to reach a larger audience.

"We wanted to get the message of hope out to as many people as we could that there is hope for their sons and daughters," Evans said. "They took Oprah for that reason, because she has the largest audience. To my knowledge, there was no money involved.''

From early morning to late night Thursday, the family gave interviews with local, national and international news organizations. The family required each to sign a contract promising not to publish or broadcast any report on the interview until 6 a.m. Friday. One provision of the two-page contract required news organizations that violated the embargo to pay $100,000 to the Shawn Hornbeck Foundation.

Once informed of the requirement to sign a contract, the Post-Dispatch declined to participate in those interviews.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/BC93B6F3F8F9E60B8625726700661DB9?OpenDocument

blacknapkins

First, Oprah is hardly the moral compass of anything. She may give some of her money away, but she takes a bow for it every time. Second, it never ceases to amaze me that some parents are willing to exploit their own children for their fifteen minutes. The victim in this story needs some genuine love and support from an adult who really cares. Oh, yeah, and whatever happened to p-r-i-v-a-c-y?

norm

know1 wrote:

So you think it's more important to help people in America?

As I said, I think it's important to help all people. You know I just thought about Pegi and Neil Young. They couldn't find a proper school for their son so they started one. Just imagine with Oprah's money what kind of schools she could create. I think my point is we are depending way too much on our government to solve all our problems when we should be doing grassroots things like what the Youngs did.

soulsinging

farfromglorified wrote:

This seems pretty fucked up. Not sure what compels people to parade their child around after this kind of situation.

$$$$