Poynter on the Record

A local investigation into a missing child has garnered some national media attention despite criticism that the industry ignores cases involving minority children.

But the picture of a pigtailed Analyce Guerra, a Smyrna 2-year-old, may have catapulted the missing girl's case to the national stage.

"It's incredibly difficult to predict which ones will and which ones won't become a national phenomenon," said Al Tompkins, a former news director at WSMV Channel 4 now with the Poynter Institute, a journalism center in Florida.

Inquiries into Analyce's disappearance by the Fox News Network and CNN began less than 24 hours after she was reported missing, Smyrna police Sgt. Ken Hampton said.

Several factors play into a story's national appeal. If there is little other interesting national news, that could inadvertently give momentum to a story, Tompkins said without speaking specifically about Analyce's disappearance.
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