They have "My First Errand", we have Dateline NBC and America's Most Wanted. What else should we expect?

I think Americans have an almost pathological reflex to gaze at sentimental stories that are sensational because they are exceptional, then use them as guidelines for how the world is now.

The sentimentality aspect, which drives interest, outrage and action, is what makes it so pernicious. Sentimental appeal is what drives our politics, media and fundraising. If there's no emotional aspect, our media is quick to invent one by creating angles like arguments between talking heads.

I know many on HN understand that there are fewer than 200 stranger abductions of children per year in the US. Maybe you even know that runaways have decreased by over 70% in the last ten years.

How would the US public ever know this?

In the emotional marketplace, that simple fact can't compete with these facts which, when conflated in the media, produce utter paranoia:

http://www.missingkids.com/KeyFacts

I have nothing against the work this organization does; they are as captive to the existing narrative as police or parents or anyone else.

I think the progress in this area is that through electronic media, we can actually measure pretty easily how informed the public is by the media they consume. Hopefully we can get closer to news that demonstrably informs people.