I do not mean to downplay the tremendous tragedy of the kidnapping of Savannah Guthrie’s elderly mother. However, in regard to the around-the-clock televised and social media coverage since Sunday, February 1, enough is enough.
Since that date, the legacy media, cable news, and social media have been almost monomaniacally obsessed or oversaturated with the kidnapping of the 84-year-old grandmother from Tucson, Arizona. This was especially true until February 13. The nonstop news coverage on such television channels as Fox News and CNN has occurred at almost the total exclusion of most other regional, national, or world events.
Meanwhile, the US is on the verge of a second war with Iran, Hamas refuses to disarm in the Gaza Strip, Ukraine is stalemated in its war against Putin’s Russia, and Communist Cuba is on the verge of a complete collapse for the first time since January 1, 1959.
I could give you a plethora of other examples, but I will stop here.
Within the US, food prices are rising, especially because of shrinkflation or tariffs, while gasoline prices are slowly decreasing. Shrinkflation is rampant. The Republicans are acutely worried about affordability, congressional redistricting, and food prices, which may still be formidable problems by Election Day on November 3, 2026.
The media’s constant fixation on Nancy Guthrie’s kidnapping also includes both the semi-tabloid New York Post and the California Post. This has been much less of a problem with such foreign press websites as the BBC, France 24, and Deutsche Welle.
Much to my chagrin, the lead story on the New York Post on February 11 was entitled, “Third Nancy Guthrie ransom note sent to TMZ, including demand for bitcoin in exchange for information: report, “which was written by Anthony Blair. That was ten days after her initial kidnapping.
The third lead story on February 11 from nbc.com was entitled, “Person released after questioning as search for Nancy Guthrie continues,” with no journalist’s name given. The next news stories were essentially on the same topic for the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh stories about Nancy Guthrie by both identified and unidentified reporters.
Talk about journalistic overload for one day.
I suspect that the 24/7 news coverage of Nancy Guthrie’s kidnapping has been similar for News Nation and Newsmax, but surprisingly not with MS NOW. At least that has been true for their website during the past week.
The only reason that the news networks are covering this story, almost 24/7, is because Savannah Guthrie has been a highly respected news co-anchor for NBC’s morning show, Today Show, since 2012.
And she is extremely wealthy. Her net worth is $40 million.
If my middle-class mother or grandmother were alive, and had been kidnapped on February 1, I seriously doubt that the national news media would have given either of them any vast or constant news coverage that literally predominated onFox News’ The Laura Ingram Show, Jesse Walters, and Hannity. The same is true for CNN‘s Anderson Cooper 360°and other CNN shows.
The media’s fixation on crimes involving wealthy Americans is a disservice to crimes committed against less affluent Americans, especially poor ethnic minorities.
In that respect, I am glad that I am relatively “poor,” and therefore much less likely to be a kidnapped victim with the possibility of being executed, missing fingers, or other body parts. That is especially true of what happened to John Paul Getty III in 1974, when his ransom was not paid, resulting in the Italian Mafia amputating his right ear.
My advice to all affluent Americans is to live modestly, carry a concealed handgun, keep a low profile, and disguise your wealth. Then petition your local congressman or senator, and make kidnapping a capital crime with no appeal.
Robert L. Maronic
