Diane Sawyer - Appalachian Special

[Alysser]

I honestly had no idea people still lived like that, it's sickening, especially in "America". I watched and I was speechless, at the end when they said that boy gave up on college I was really sad, he was really trying to make a life for himself. I am glad though that the Girl named Angel got her GED and I'm glad these people are trying at least...

It makes me really want to help, I'm glad I'm young and I can possibly help some of these people in the future. I hope this documentary really raises awareness and more people try and help! My cousin goes there every summer for 2 weeks with a volunteer organization to help out down there, it's good they are getting more help The guy who made a mobile dentist made me happier. Incest, drugs, hunger, etc are really bad problems up there but I hope to god that they can solve it. I cannot believe people live in such poverty it makes me so sad. Maybe now they will start getting the help they needed.

The guy in the coal mines made me really sad to, he was only 19 years old!! They might make a "good" salary but they die very young I'm sure That show was pretty powerful, I'm sure it moved many people and I hope it is going to be the start of a change for Appalachia.

[Pam]

Diane Sawyer said today that tomorrow morning on GMA they will have an update on this show reflecting the outpouring of interest that everyone had after viewing. I hope I remember to watch. Better tie a string around my finger.

[Daisy and Delilah]

Thanks Pam!! I'll get a reminder post it on the tv now. There was a huge response to it and alot of the comments were directed at Diane herself. I know she was hurt by many of the remarks.

[Pam]

Well that was a short little update (but encouraging!). Terry I hope you saw it. Lots of people have responded as I knew they would. They are going to update further on 20/20 on Friday night.

[smokey the elder]

All these charities come on pitching to help kids overseas, but I never see a commercial for a charity helping American poor kids, whether they be inner city, Native Americans on the reservation or Appalachians. I think these people tend to fall through the cracks (out of sight, out of mind.) No person should have to mine for a living, IMO. It's very dangerous, and this is one place where I think it's better to use machinery, and train the people to operate the machines.

[Cataholic]

Thanks Pam!! I'll get a reminder post it on the tv now. There was a huge response to it and alot of the comments were directed at Diane herself. I know she was hurt by many of the remarks.

D&D, I didn't see the special, but, want to watch 20/20 this Friday night. Why were people directing the hurtful comments to Diane?

[Daisy and Delilah]

D&D, I didn't see the special, but, want to watch 20/20 this Friday night. Why were people directing the hurtful comments to Diane?

The comments are mostly from natives of the area that are angry about the way she dipicted them all as toothless, incestuous, good for nothing, drug addicts. The show covered the fact that not all people are like that but many of the people still feel like they're being made to look bad again. She is from Kentucky and she's apparently seen by some as uppity and unknowing about how things really go there.

There were also dozens of angry comments directed at her for not offering to put the young man through college that supposedly dropped out due to lack of funds. Not just directed at Diane but to ABC and others.

Of course, there were people complaining about poverty in all areas and why would Diane concentrate on this area only.

There are hundreds of comments on the ABC website and some of them are ugly.

Pam: I did see it this morning. I was also reading about the actual help that's been given.

[kokopup]

originally posted by Daisy and Delilah

The comments are mostly from natives of the area that are angry about the way she dipicted them all as toothless, incestuous, good for nothing, drug addicts. The show covered the fact that not all people are like that but many of the people still feel like they're being made to look bad again. She is from Kentucky and she's apparently seen by some as uppity and unknowing about how things really go there.

There were also dozens of angry comments directed at her for not offering to put the young man through college that supposedly dropped out due to lack of funds. Not just directed at Diane but to ABC and others.

Of course, there were people complaining about poverty in all areas and why would Diane concentrate on this area only.

There are hundreds of comments on the ABC website and some of them are ugly.

Pam: I did see it this morning. I was also reading about the actual help that's been given.
_____

I can see how the locals would be upset with how they are depicted.
I have seen media distortion for years, after all i was raised in Birmingham, Alabama. It is true that there are still pockets of poverty
in Appalachia. This is true for just about every region in the US. Look at our intercity. It is not fair to go out in the mountain and find a few families and make it a epidemic. Drug abuse is not unique to this or any region of our world. This is a problem that plagues all regions, And income groups. Incest is a another worldwide problem that they tried
to isolate to the Mountain people. We give it a name like child abuse or
some other name but it is still incest.The number one social problem in the Netherland is incest. This is a country with one of the highest standard of living in the world. There are religious groups that have incest as a part of there tenet's. This is not a unique problem to Appalachia

Changing social issues in is not easy from the outside. It must start from within. Martin Luther King would roll over in his grave if he could see how rampant black on black crime is. How do you stop this. It has
to be a change in the mindset of the people. This is true with Appalachia and the intercity of our larger cities. It is easy to have exposes' on the problems facing America and the world , that 20/20 is famous for, but harder to come up with solutions to these problems.

[RICHARD]

Thanks Pam,


THis fits in with my thoughts of the last week.

I purchased on of those water purifying pitches - PUR - a few weeks ago.

I kinda glossed over the print on the box saying that by "purchasing this product, I am helping bring pure water to people overseas". I felt good for all of 3 seconds, Then Pam has to show up and kick my arse.

I don't really get on the bandwagon about any 'causes' anymore. Most of the money goes to amin costs and I was stunned at the 20 bucks I gave to greenpeace and the WWF and how it turned into 50 dollars of letters, pamphlets and mailing costs, just to get another 20 spot from me.

Yep, we do have a problem here in the U.S. with poverty.

You do have to give people credit-I seriously doubt anyone of us could make it living under those conditions. I have seen first hand the type of poverty in Mexico that is on par with what was on that show.

LOL, I probably still have the splinters in my ARSE from the wooden seat of the outdorr crapper.

We tend to feel put out about having to deal with little things like turning down the thermostat at night and have to go pee in a cold house.

On your way there, look out the window and think about a Number 2 in your weather in your part of the country.

We can and will commiserate with these poor folks and their way of life, but we first have to figure out why the OctoMom has a better set of fingernails than us, Who is going to win the Grammys on Sunday night and Our wonderful governmentand reps who will take a handout dollar for pet projects and pork barrel spending, but refuse to let it filter down to the poorest people in the nation.

My spin?

Build one nice house in each neighborhood and give it to a family. Like the show where they build ridiculously nice house for 'in need' families.

Don't put in all the unneeded crap like HDTVs, mircowave ovens and electric
window shades. Put in a crapper, a stove, heat and a washing machine, maybe?

Then tell everyone that this is what we have to offer to people if they choose to participate in what made our country great-Sawyer is another effing hack that went out of her way to put together this piece to shame the rest of the country- I looked at the South Central Dogs link and see the same thing.

The worst of a neighborhood - and the people there are fooled into giving a sound bite to people who manipulate the story for max shock value.

-------------

Our heart strings will be tugged, but how much can we do for people who don't trust the 'revenuers' for help?

A sticky wicket at best, but to condemn the country, the citizens in and out of the area is really not fair.

The whole story needs to be looked at.

[Daisy and Delilah]

I can see how the locals would be upset with how they are depicted.
I have seen media distortion for years, after all i was raised in Birmingham, Alabama. It is true that there are still pockets of poverty
in Appalachia. This is true for just about every region in the US. Look at our intercity. It is not fair to go out in the mountain and find a few families and make it a epidemic. Drug abuse is not unique to this or any region of our world. This is a problem that plagues all regions, And income groups. Incest is a another worldwide problem that they tried
to isolate to the Mountain people. We give it a name like child abuse or
some other name but it is still incest.The number one social problem in the Netherland is incest. This is a country with one of the highest standard of living in the world. There are religious groups that have incest as a part of there tenet's. This is not a unique problem to Appalachia

Changing social issues in is not easy from the outside. It must start from within. Martin Luther King would roll over in his grave if he could see how rampant black on black crime is. How do you stop this. It has
to be a change in the mindset of the people. This is true with Appalachia and the intercity of our larger cities. It is easy to have exposes' on the problems facing America and the world , that 20/20 is famous for, but harder to come up with solutions to these problems.

Very well said. You've made some wonderful points.

Having lived in the area for a few years, I was able to witness that dark side of life first hand. I longed for the day that those people would wake up and try to help themsleves. Eventually I realized, it would probably never happen. Changing social issues from the outside is nearly impossible for sure. Learning to live differently than you have for hundreds of years is nearly impossible as well.

To me, there is a fine line between exposing this situation or keeping it hidden. Either way, it should be depicted accurately.
I can also understand how those natives feel after seeing the program. It most likely brought them to feel ashamed of themselves. However, the website , as well as the show itself, provided disclaimers for the facts they were presenting. On one hand you could see it as being portrayed both ways I suppose. 1.) As if everyone in eastern Kentucky is living like that. or 2.) Only certain groups/families in exclusive pockets are living like that.

Appalachia is not the only area in the U.S. with the problems that were portrayed in Sunday's show. Not by any means. I want to believe that it wasn't ABC's intention to represent the fact that they thought it was exclusive. I hope Diane Sawyer did it to raise awareness of that area just in that particular program. Maybe we'll see other areas brought into the light after the comments she's received. I can agree with the points mentioned in alot of the comments but the nasty remarks were unnecessary.

I don't know if anything will reach these people. Will they ever choose to live another way? I believe they are distinct from others in comparable situations. As I said before, it's hard to explain. I've met alot of people in my life but never any people exactly like the people of the mountains. I considered my husband's family as some of the more learned people there. I never met the people that lived even further on top of the mountains and deeper in the hollers. It was a character building experience from the first day I was there. I'm a different person today because of it.

I can't relate to all those people in the show. I know the residents of the area can't completely relate to all of them either. I do think they need to open their eyes and realize these problems exist rather than acting as if they don't. I was surprised at how many comments indicated the situation isn't realistic.

If something can be done, I hope 20/20 can make sure that something is done and follow through with it. In the meantime, I hope they continue to bring improvement and expose other parts of the country that are suffering. I shudder to think they do this for ratings only and ignore the gigantic resposes they receive.