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ABSTRACT AND ARTICLE INFORMATION
An analysis of news articles reveals a consistent trend: Missing White women and children are more likely to gamer 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 winch 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.
Keywords:
missing white woman syndrome, black feminist theory, media issues, race in mass media, missing persons
Media Messages Surrounding Missing Women and Girls: The "Missing White Woman Syndrome" and Other Factors that Influence Newsworthiness
The pressure on U.S. media to maximize ratings and, therefore, profits can readily conflict with objectivity in journalism (An & Bergen, 2007). With the exceptions of political firestorms, natural disasters, and scandalous celebrity gossip, few events in the United States consistently garner as much media coverage as the disappearance of women and children. Indeed, almost all media latch onto "mega cases" in which a newsworthy woman or girl disappears because these cases "enjoy relative longevity... [and] elicit a very strong response" (Dowler, Fleming, & Muzzatti, 2006, p. 839). Due to the pressure to garner ratings, media sources portray crimes stories as sources of entertainment in which the watcher/listener cannot help but follow (Fuhrman, 2009; Surette, 2011). However, unlike other common newsworthy topics, media surrounding missing women and children are not exhaustive. Both national and local media outlets tend to glorify certain...