Missing White Woman Syndrome: The Media Bias Towards Missing People of Color

Every year about 600,000 thousand people are reported missing in the United States per the National Missing and Unidentified Persons database.

In 2022, about 34,000 people reported as actively missing were people of color. But people of color who disappear seldom get the same amount of media attention devoted to white people who go missing - especially white women and children.

The late journalist Gwen Ifill coined the phrase "Missing White Woman Syndrome" to describe the media's fascination with, and detailed coverage of, the cases of missing or endangered white...