In a 2004 conference, well-known journalist and anchor Gwen Ifill uttered the term that has now permeated the public conscience.
“I call it the Missing White Woman Syndrome. If there’s a missing white woman, you’re gonna cover that every day,” said Ifill to a chorus of agreement.
Missing White Woman Syndrome has now re-entered the dialogue as the attention surrounding the Gabby Petito case has drawn criticism regarding the lack of national attention towards similar cases with women of color.
According to NPR, a website titled “Our Black Girls”, launched by a journalist, focuses on lightly covered stories of black women who have gone missing or have been “found dead under mysterious circumstances.”
The website seeks to bring light to stories that are rarely seen in the public. However, according to a study from the National Crime Information Center, the problem is worse than it appears at first glance. In 2020, around 34% of all missing women cases in the U.S. were Black.
There seems to be no lack of missing women of color cases, so why have they gone largely ignored?
“When Gabby (Petito) went missing, it was all over the news and then it came out that there’s like a few hundred that are actually missing in that same age group that we don’t hear about because they’re not … white,” said Joyce Moed, adjunct professor in the department of communication, media, and the arts at Nova Southeastern University.
Moed explained that she had never been aware of this phenomenon during her career in journalism.
“I never, honestly, saw these things happening, when I was working full time in media,” said Moed.
This is not an inaccurate statement. According to a study conducted by Journalism Practice, it seems like the problem does not fully stem from publishers and news outlets.
The 2020 study titled “Not at risk? News, Gatekeeping, and Missing Teens” found that “age, gender, race, and ethnicity all factor into the degree of visibility a missing teen receives in both legacy and social media.” adding that, “social media afford(s) missing tens more visibility than do legacy media.”
More importantly, the study concluded that police departments are mostly to blame for the lack of attention of missing women of color.
“The police are the primary gatekeeps in reporting on missing teens, with journalists following their lead,” said the study.
Moed is not so quick to let the media off the hook, saying that, “Media is still a business and I think that’s what they think will attract more views. Those are the cases people want to hear about and read about more (and) will become popular.”
Public outcry to Missing White Woman Syndrome has already made up some ground. Recently, the Miya Marcano case, which went unresolved and lightly reported, was finally solved when Marcano’s body was found. The case was well-known for being heavily publicized by social media users who were upset that heavy coverage had been given to Petito and not Marcano’s case which was similar, leading to new developments in her investigation.
“I had no idea that this was going on and I think it took something like this for us to see it,” said Moed.
