No Media Platform For Missing Women Of Color -- Says Host "Of Color" On Her Huge Platform
Great piece in the WashEx by Christopher Tremoglie, "Joy Reid knows she can talk about missing women of color on her TV show, right?"
Earlier this week, Joy Reid addressed the media coverage surrounding the disappearance and subsequent death of Gabby Petito. Reid cried foul, insinuating racism played a role in the discrepancies in media coverage for missing white women compared to missing non-white women. She used the term "missing white woman syndrome" to describe this phenomenon.If only Reid had her own show in which she could have a platform to bring awareness to any missing person she wanted. Except, that is exactly what Reid has. So, why isn't Reid talking about them on her own show, The ReidOut?
"The way this story captivated the nation," Reid told her viewers, "has many wondering why not the same media attention when people of color go missing? Well, the answer actually has a name: Missing White Woman Syndrome, the term coined by the late and great Gwen Ifill to describe the media and public fascination with missing white women like Laci Peterson or Natalee Holloway while ignoring cases involving of people of color."
Pot meet kettle?
It took me 3.7 seconds to Google and enter "FBI missing women" in the search bar before being directed to the list of people. Surely, someone as seasoned in the media as Reid is sophisticated enough to do that herself, no? And it gets even better -- if one clicks on the picture, the FBI will actually provide the details of each case. In less than 4 seconds, Reid can find out the details of any missing woman of color she chooses and talk about it on her show. But, sadly, she chooses not to do so. It is more important for Reid to whine about a "problem" than to do anything about it. We all know liberal Democrats believe in big government making decisions for them, but one would think Reid could handle this on her own.
But the reason why Reid doesn't do so is because, in reality, Reid doesn't care. She would rather curse the darkness than light a candle.
On the FBI page for missing person, of the first 16 pictures listed, eight of them appear to be people of color. I can almost guarantee Reid doesn't know any of their names. Moreover, Reid has an audience size of over 1 million people. This means five nights a week, she can inform 1 million people about any missing woman of color she wants to, but she chooses not to do so.
via ifeminists
One could/should ask why little to no coverage of white people who are victims of black racist attacks?
Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom were a white couple who were kidnapped, raped and tortured before/while being killed by a group of blacks.
Was it because the criminals were black that this case didn't get national attention?
Or the mentally handicapped white 18-year old who was tortured by a group of black teens - why no national coverage on that case? Oh, and when it finally got some coverage and Obama did mention it he was quoted as saying something along the lines of "tensions between the community and police" as if that excuses black racist violence.
No coverage isn't "equal" or "fair" and the author is totally right in that Joy Reid could cover almost any story that she wants - so, why doesn't she?
charles at September 26, 2021 9:04 PM
Media has it's narratives. And won't risk breaking from them. So every police shooting of a black man or woman will get top billing but not of any other race.
Have to be careful when talking about missing women because it is usually a member of their own race that did something, often a family member bf or ex. that's why only some missing white women are shown, because it's safe to their narrative. If it looks like a white man is to blame they may talk about it.
The short answer is there are so many missing people, they can't cover them all. So they cover a few that peak their interest, or push a narrative,
Joe J at September 26, 2021 9:38 PM
Also: Chris Cuomo.
I R A Darth Aggie at September 27, 2021 6:47 AM
How much of "Missing White Woman Syndrome" is motivated by money (i.e. viewers) rather than by racism?
Gabby Petito had thousands of followers on Instagram. She attracted tens of thousands, sometime even hundreds of thousands, of likes on her posts about her trip. That translates to a lot of viewers paying attention to her story.
Joy Reid could highlight those missing not-white women any time she chooses. She could follow the investigation into their disappearances with every episode of her show, if she so chose to do so. But Joy Reid is in the business of ginning up viewership to sell advertising. So, criticizing the Gabby Petito coverage as racist will get her more attention (and viewers) than highlighting those missing not-white women.
Again, remove the thousands of Instagram followers and Gabby Petito is just another back page below the fold story of a missing person, of interest only to her friends and family.
Conan the Grammarian at September 27, 2021 6:53 AM
I agree that the media coverage of the Gabby Petito disappearance got out of hand. And I can see Joy Reid responding that the platform for her program cannot accommodate the promotion of missing person cases on a regular basis. Reid is also likely aware that a large number of those cases involve women in hiding from domestic situations, and her bringing attention to them could result in them being returned to an environment that would endanger their lives. She doesn't want to be responsible for that.
Fayd at September 27, 2021 9:09 AM
I've posted stories about missing WOC many, many times. They get few if any likes or comments... even by the people who've gone very aggressive about stories about missing white women.
Makes me think it isn't about wanting a platform for missing WOC.
NicoleK at September 27, 2021 11:21 AM
Was it because the criminals were black that this case didn't get national attention?
Could be. There's a school of thought which says the media are reluctant to identify criminal suspects as black.
Publicity, or lack of it, might have more to do with the race of the suspect than of the victim. Perhaps someone could do a study of disappearance cases where the missing woman and the husband/boyfriend are of different races.
Rex Little at September 28, 2021 4:46 PM
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