Media Representation: "Missing White Woman Syndrome"

(C-SPAN footage) Gwen Ifill coins the term "missing white woman syndrome" at the 2004 Unity: Journalists of Color conference.

Mara Schiavocampo explains how intense media coverage of White women who go missing, as in the case of Gabby Petito, can have real-life implications for women of color who are often not covered by the media.

The breathless coverage of the disappearance and apparent killing of Gabrielle Petito has played out in a virtual — and sometimes literal — split screen alongside images of mounted officers in Texas swinging long reins like whips while herding Haitian migrants. That startling contrast forces us once again to wrestle with a crucial question: What kinds of people, in what kinds of bodies, with what kinds of lineage do we value?

At any given time, there are tens of thousands of Americans categorized as “missing” by law enforcement. However, only a fraction of those individuals receive news coverage, leading some commentators to hypothesize that missing persons with certain characteristics are more likely to garner media attention than others: namely, white women and girls. This paper aims to fill those voids by empirically exploring whether that inequality, dubbed “Missing White Woman Syndrome,” truly exists. Based on a multi-method approach using Federal Bureau of Investigation data and data culled from four major online news sources, the results indicate not only that there are, in fact, race and gender disparities consistent with Missing White Woman Syndrome, but that they manifest themselves in two distinct ways: (1) disparities in the threshold issue of whether a missing person receives any media attention at all; and (2) disparities in coverage intensity among the missing persons that do appear in the news.

(William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice, 2019) The underrepresentation and misrepresentation of Black faces in mainstream news media is neither a new nor surprising concept to most people who have access to modern technology. The issue of underrepresentation and, consequently, inadequate attention to the cases of missing Black people in America is an ongoing issue that very few attempted solutions have solved. A thorough comparison of the number of Black Americans who are reported missing with the number of times news media reports Black Americans as missing makes it even clearer that underrepresentation is an issue.

Media coverage varies as a function of demographic and situational characteristics such that more “newsworthy” cases feature greater exposure. This study examines case characteristics associated with various levels of media attention for missing persons cases, as well as the framing of news reports. Including missing persons cases that received media attention as well as those that did not allowed for a greater understanding of the factors related to the degree of media exposure. Disparities in coverage were seen based on race and age. In addition, the narratives of the reports were framed as cautionary tales and victims were seen as active participants in their disappearance.

An analysis of news articles reveals a consistent trend: Missing White women and children are more likely to garner media attention than missing minority women. The glorification of missing White women and children has been dubbed the “Missing White Woman Syndrome.” Despite the popularity of this concept, few scholars have examined the differential representation given to missing White and minority women and girls in the news media. This content analysis explores whether the “Missing White Woman Syndrome” exists in print media and examines which other factors—including age, job status, and motherhood status—influence story narratives. While missing White women and children were overrepresented in the news and more likely to receive repeated coverage, the researchers found the media used a Black missing woman or girl’s legitimate job status to humanize her. Indeed, stories about missing women and children were significantly impacted by the missing person’s age and job status, and the media described some missing women and girls as innocent while others were described in a salacious manner. The implications of the Missing White Woman Syndrome’s existence for theory and professional practice in journalism and criminal justice, as well as those for justice policy, are discussed.

Black and Missing Foundation, Inc (BAMFI) has been established as a non-profit organization whose mission is to bring awareness to missing persons of color; provide vital resources and tools to missing persons' families and friends and to educate the minority community on personal safety.