http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/news/nation/12329130.htm
Van Susteren, crew clean up in Aruba
Missing-student coverage earns Fox News high ratings
By David Bauder
The Associated Press
NEW YORK - Bringing a microphone and camera crew to the gates of an Aruba landfill last week, Greta Van Susteren returned to the island her nightly Fox News Channel program has figuratively called home recently.
Van Susteren's "On the Record" has relentlessly followed the disappearance of 18-year-old Natalee Holloway of Alabama while on a May graduation trip to Aruba.
Critics find it an obsession bordering on the bizarre, twisting traditional notions of news judgment and becoming Exhibit A in the media's fascination with missing people - as long as they happen to be young, white, female and pretty.
But while doing this, Van Susteren has been rewarded with her biggest audiences since making the switch from CNN three years ago.
She averaged nearly 2.2 million viewers a night in July, up 58 percent from the same period a year ago, according to Nielsen Media Research. CNN's Aaron Brown used to put up a tough fight in the time slot; now Van Susteren routinely triples his audience. She narrowly missed 3 million July 26, her biggest audience this year.
"On the Record" topped Fox's prime time king "The O'Reilly Factor" eight times although Bill O'Reilly was off on four of those nights.
"I'm always happy when the viewers are happy," Van Susteren said. "I obviously don't program for the people in the newsroom or my friends or the people I went to law school with. I program for the viewers."
It's not just Nielsen that confirms interest in the Holloway story. Van Susteren said she spends an hour or two a day combing through e-mails from viewers on the case, and they often supply her with good questions.
The mystery plays to her strengths as a lawyer.
"For me, it's sort of an intellectual challenge," she said. "Where is she? How did she disappear? Did somebody drop a date rape drug in her drink? Did she walk off? Is this not really a homicide but a missing person? ... I could go on. These are fascinating to me, and they're obviously fascinating to the viewers."
The Holloway family has been grateful for the interest and available to help fill hours of airtime.
"Greta has gone above and beyond to publicize this case and keep people interested," said Paul Reynolds, Natalee Holloway's uncle. "Getting involved the way she has been is an incredible effort."
The Aruban government hasn't been happy with all the coverage. Officials think much of it makes the authorities look amateurish and unprofessional, but Van Susteren has government spokesman Ruben Trapenberg's respect.
"Even though she is aggressive, she will try to get both sides of a story," he said.
Criticism of cable networks for a slavish devotion to a story, whether it merits the attention, is nothing new; just insert the names Chandra Levy or Laci Peterson for Holloway. One of many reasons Fox has been able to soundly beat CNN in the ratings with a considerably smaller news staff is that viewers respond more to this approach.