crimes and profiled the crimes’ perpetrators with
the goal of gaining information from viewers that
would lead to the criminals’ arrests. Although some-
times criticized for sensationalizing crime and ob-
scuring the distinction between law enforcement
and entertainment,America’s Most Wantedsucceeded
in its purpose: In the show’s first eighteen years on
the air, more than nine hundred of its featured crim-
inals were apprehended. Successful captures were
also chronicled on the show, which also provided up-
dates on previous cases and interviews with victims,
family members, and individuals who knew the fugi-
tives both prior to and after their apprehension.
Law-enforcement officials were initially skeptical
about the potential effectiveness of a show likeAmer-
ica’s Most Wanted. However, within days of the first
broadcast, David James Roberts, a fugitive on the
Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Most Wanted list,
was captured after nearly twenty years on the run as a
direct result of information gained through the
show. In another well-known case, John Emil List,
who murdered his wife, mother, and three children
in Westfield, New Jersey, in 1971, was captured in
1989 only eleven days after his case aired onAmerica’s
Most Wanted. New Jersey authorities had been unable
to locate List for eighteen years.
America’s Most Wantedwas hosted by anti-crime ac-
tivist John Walsh. Walsh was selected because of his
personal passion, dedication, and previous media ex-
posure following the 1981 abduction and murder of
his six-year-old son, Adam Walsh. Adam’s murder was
never solved; the prime suspect, Ottis Toole, died in
prison while serving time for different crimes, and he
was never conclusively linked to Adam’s death. As a
response to the ordeal of their son’s murder, Walsh
and his wife, Revé, formed the Adam Walsh Child Re-
source Center, a non-profit organization dedicated
to reforming legislation regarding missing and ex-
ploited children. Adam Walsh’s story was the subject
of two made-for-television movies,Adam(1983) and
its sequel,Adam: His Song Continues(1986).
Impact America’s Most Wantedwas one of the first of
a new generation of “reality-based” television pro-
grams and was directly responsible for the inception
and success ofCOPS, which began airing soon after.
It was also FOX network’s first show to break into the
Nielsen ratings’ weekly top fifty and was extremely
lucrative for the young network, as its production
costs were very low.
Further Reading
Breslin, Jack.“America’s Most Wanted”: How Television
Catches Crooks.New York: Harper & Row, 2000.
Walsh, John.Tears of Rage: From Grieving Father to Cru-
sader for Justice—The Untold Stor y of the Adam Walsh
Case.New York: Pocket Books, 1997.
Alan C. HaslamSee also Crime; FOX network; Journalism; Missing
and runaway children; Tabloid television; Televi-
sion.Anderson, Terry
Identification American journalist held captive in
Lebanon
Born October 27, 1947; Lorain, Ohio
Anderson was one of a group of hostages seized by the para-
militar y organization Hezbollah during the Lebanese Civil
War. He was held the longest—2,455 days—becoming the
face of the hostages and a filter through which Americans
interpreted the Lebanese conflict.
Terry Anderson was the Middle East bureau chief
for the Associated Press when he was abducted by
terrorists on March 16, 1985. Born in Ohio and
raised in New York, Anderson served two tours of
duty as a U.S. Marine in the Vietnam War. After his
1970 discharge, he attended college at Iowa State
University, graduating in 1974 with a B.A. in journal-
ism and political science. After working in radio and
television news in Des Moines, he became an editor
for theYpsilanti Postin Michigan, then state editor,
foreign-desk editor, broadcast editor, Tokyo corre-
spondent, South Africa correspondent, Middle East
news editor, and chief Middle East correspondent
for the Associated Press.
Anderson moved to Beirut in 1983. Two years
later, he was returning from his regular Saturday-
morning tennis game when he was kidnapped on
the street, put in a car trunk, and taken to an un-
known location—the first of more than fifteen sites
where he would be imprisoned. During his captivity,
he was first kept in isolation then jailed with a group
of other hostages. He was beaten and tortured then
given materials so he could write. He was repeatedly
led to believe his release was imminent then moved
by his captors. His frustration grew so great that he
once banged his head against a wall until it bled.54 Anderson, Terry The Eighties in America