Missing white woman syndrome

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Missing white woman syndrome is a term used by some social scientists, as well as media commentators, to denote disproportionate media coverage, especially on television, of missing-person cases toward white women and girls as compared to cases involving male subjects or women of color. Proponents of this notion posit that it encompasses supposed disproportionate media attention to female subjects who are young, attractive, white, and upper middle class. Although the term was coined in the context of missing-person cases, it is sometimes used of coverage of other violent crimes. The phenomenon has been highlighted in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and other predominantly white countries, as well as South Africa. Despite the popularity of the term "missing white woman syndrome", there have been few empirical studies examining the subject. A 2016 study found that black missing persons received a disproportionately low share of news coverage when compared...

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