Adoption as a Public Event: Media Perception and the Grayson Wyrembek Case
I’ve been working on a piece about the Grayson Wyrembek (Vaughn) case, and it’s gotten stalled. In the meantime, a lively discussion on the case developed on the Birth Mother-First Mother Forum. One of the topics up for discussion is media. I wrote a long reply, which got a little convoluted since I had to cut it up in sections to post. The post below is based on that reply, but longer and more detailed. ****** Media is all about perception. I have mixed feelings about media involvement–ie Public Relations–in disputed adoption cases. Not too long ago, adoption was a private affair and those involved were loathe to expose this private affair for public scrutiny. It’s become apparent since Baby Jessica and Baby Dick, (not to mention the Internet), however, that adoption is a public event. Today, getting the media on “your side”when things go wrong is essential to the good public opinion people feel they need in these cases, despite the fact that it has nothing to do with legal outcomes. In a sane world PR would be considered a total waste of time and resources. I don’t like to see little potential adoptees and those already adopted paraded Continue Reading →