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'''Missing white woman syndrome''' (MWWS), also known as '''missing pretty girl syndrome,''' is a term used<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/anderson.cooper.360/blog/2006/03/diagnosing-missing-white-woman.html Diagnosing 'Missing White Woman Syndrome'] Tom Foreman, CNN Correspondent, March 14, 2006, 'phrase invoked by Sheri Parks, a professor of American studies at the University of Maryland, College Park'</ref> to describe alleged disproportionate media coverage of [[white (people)|white]] female victims.<!-- following 2 refs discuss the phenomenon with terms other than syndrome: --><ref>{{cite news|title=(White) Women We Love|date=June 10, 2005|author=Eugene Robinson|work=[[Washington Post]]|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/09/AR2005060901729.html|quote='choosing only young, white, middle-class women for the full damsel treatment'}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Have you seen her? While the families of the missing struggle to bring national attention to their lost loved ones, they sift through the clues and pray for a miracle|date= July, 2005 |author=Kristal Brent Zook|work= [[Essence (magazine)|Essence]] |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1264/is_3_36/ai_n14730176 |quote='"But missing Black women aren't featured as much," says Howard.'}}</ref> The individual may be [[missing person|missing]], [[murder]]ed, captured, or even have faked her own abduction; the essential element of the syndrome is that her gender,<ref name="newstateman">{{cite news|title=The naming of Faye Turney |date=April 9, 2007|author= Brian Cathcart | work=[[New Statesman]] |url = http://www.newstatesman.com/200704090014 |
'''Missing white woman syndrome''' (MWWS), also known as '''missing pretty girl syndrome,''' is a term used<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/anderson.cooper.360/blog/2006/03/diagnosing-missing-white-woman.html Diagnosing 'Missing White Woman Syndrome'] Tom Foreman, CNN Correspondent, March 14, 2006, 'phrase invoked by Sheri Parks, a professor of American studies at the University of Maryland, College Park'</ref> to describe alleged disproportionate media coverage of [[white (people)|white]] female victims.<!-- following 2 refs discuss the phenomenon with terms other than syndrome: --><ref>{{cite news|title=(White) Women We Love|date=June 10, 2005|author=Eugene Robinson|work=[[Washington Post]]|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/09/AR2005060901729.html|quote='choosing only young, white, middle-class women for the full damsel treatment'}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Have you seen her? While the families of the missing struggle to bring national attention to their lost loved ones, they sift through the clues and pray for a miracle|date= July, 2005 |author=Kristal Brent Zook|work= [[Essence (magazine)|Essence]] |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1264/is_3_36/ai_n14730176 |quote='"But missing Black women aren't featured as much," says Howard.'}}</ref> The individual may be [[missing person|missing]], [[murder]]ed, captured, or even have faked her own abduction; the essential element of the syndrome is that her gender,<ref name="newstateman">{{cite news|title=The naming of Faye Turney |date=April 9, 2007|author= Brian Cathcart | work=[[New Statesman]] |url = http://www.newstatesman.com/200704090014 |
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Missing white woman syndrome (MWWS), also known as missing pretty girl syndrome, is a term used[1] to describe alleged disproportionate media coverage of white female victims.[2][3] The individual may be missing, murdered, captured, or even have faked her own abduction; the essential element of the syndrome is that her gender,[4] race, prettiness, age, or social background is alleged to have extended the media coverage and public interest in her case.
National Missing Persons Helpline report
The National Missing Persons Helpline has reported on the degree to which the news media devote attention to vulnerable missing persons, noting that despite its efforts to generate news coverage for all missing persons cases, the news media themselves will only cover those cases that fit their publications. The NMPH notes that those cases that generate the greatest publicity are those where the missing person is white, middle-class, female, and from a stable two-parent family, and where there is no indication that the missing person ran away from home. Two cases are given as contrasting examples: the murder of Hannah Williams and the murder of Danielle Jones. Despite the fact that in both cases the victim was a female teenager, there was far more coverage of Jones than of Williams. It is suggested that this is because Jones fulfils the criteria of being a model middle-class schoolgirl, whilst Williams, a girl with a working-class background whose parents were estranged and who had a stud in her nose, did not.[5]
Outline of news media involvement
- A typical case involves 24-hour cable news media providing regular daily coverage of any and all developments, accompanied by lengthy discussions about the meaning of such developments by the shows' hosts and their guests. (The most notable that currently feature these stories shows hosted by commentators Nancy Grace, Greta Van Susteren and Rita Cosby, all featured on 24-hour cable news networks.) Such guests typically have a background in law and are invited by the host to freely speculate about evidence, suspects, and motive. Family pictures and video of the subject are shown frequently and repeatedly, and friends and family of the subject or a spokesperson for them are frequently invited as guests and asked their opinions of the investigation and any evidence or suspects. As a story gains popularity, tabloid news outlets often pick up on it, many times leading to questionable or unofficial information being reported as hard news. Media critics suggest that this speculation often leads to a false consensus effect.
- Those involved in the investigation of the case (detectives, prosecutors, etc.) are invited onto the shows and asked pointed and accusatory questions suggesting that they are incompetent or negligent. Sometimes, the suspects themselves are invited on the shows and asked similarly pointed and accusatory questions.
- If the case drags on for several weeks, the resulting public sympathy often prompts friends and family of the victim to establish a website with detailed information about the case and a charity foundation, first to offer a reward, then, when the case is resolved, to provide scholarships or aid to the families of the victims of similar tragedies. Eventually, the case is resolved by the police, the news media gradually lose interest, or else a new, more urgent story comes to dominate coverage. Critics of the media say that very few follow-up stories are done unless major new developments occur.
Legacy
Frequently, cases that seem to fit this profile generate enough public interest that legislators are pressured to enact new laws that are meant to protect would-be victims of violent crime. Often, such laws are named or nicknamed for the victim in question. This is often cited by critics as an example of a deviancy amplification spiral.
Possible instances of MWWS
The following women have been mentioned in the media as possible cases of Missing White Woman Syndrome.
- Madeleine McCann (May 3, 2007) - Abducted from the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz in the Algarve, Portugal, shortly before her fourth birthday (See also: Response to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann#Criticism of media coverage).[6][7]
- Taylor Behl[8] (September 5, 2005) - 17-year-old Virginia Commonwealth University freshman disappeared and was later found dead; murderer convicted
- Natalee Holloway [9](May 30, 2005) - still missing, last known location in Aruba, active investigation. Has become especially controversial because of the great duration of media coverage.
- Jennifer Wilbanks[9] (April 26, 2005) - "The Runaway Bride." Went out for a jog and did not return; there was much media speculation that her fiancé had killed her. Found she had staged her own kidnapping when she was discovered alive several days later and admitted what she had done.
- Lori Hacking[9] (July 19, 2004) - found murdered; murderer convicted; prompted Lori's law proposal
- Brooke Wilberger[10] (May 24, 2004) - still missing, presumed dead; man arrested for murder
- Audrey Seiler[10] (March 28, 2004) - alleged kidnapping in Madison, Wisconsin; Seiler admitted faking the kidnapping several days later
- Dru Sjodin[10] (November 22, 2003) - found murdered; murderer convicted; prompted Dru's law [11]
- Laci Peterson[9] (December 23, 2002) - found murdered; murderer convicted; prompted Laci and Conner's law
- Elizabeth Smart[9] (June 5, 2002) - found alive; kidnapper found incompetent to stand trial
- Chandra Levy[10] (May 1, 2001) - missing for several months; decomposed body found and foul play/murder is suspected; cold case
- JonBenét Ramsey[10] (December 25, 1996) - found murdered; cold case until August 2006 arrest of suspect. Suspect was later exonerated and murder is now considered a cold case again.
- Polly Klaas[10] (October 1, 1993) - found murdered; murderer convicted; prompted renewal of Three strikes law
Examples of possible bias in missing person cases
Critics contend the following examples of missing people received disproportionately little coverage compared to MWWS cases:
- Shelton Sanders (June 19, 2001) - 25-year-old male, black college student. According to MSNBC, "Sanders’ case received scant notice outside his small hometown of Rembert, S.C., even though he was a high-achieving student at the University of South Carolina who worked as a technician in the Department of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Science, and despite his father’s prominence as a county magistrate. Meanwhile, the disappearance of a white, female USC student with a similar academic record, Dail Dinwiddie, has continued to receive national attention more than a dozen years after she vanished in 1992." Although no body has yet been found, police have gathered more evidence and have charged a suspect in his murder. [10] [12] [13]
- Tamika Huston (May 27, 2004) - a 24-year-old black woman who went missing from her Spartanburg, South Carolina home. Described as "bright and beautiful,"[14] Huston's remains were found more than a year later in a nearby town, and her ex-boyfriend was convicted of her murder in 2006. Following her disappearance, Huston's relatives tried in vain to interest the national news media in her case; what little national coverage it received often focused on the relative lack of coverage Huston's story was receiving.[9]
- 100+ missing women in Vancouver, Edmonton, and environs. Critics charge that the authorities have been slow in investigating because many of the missing are Aboriginal women, drug users, or sex-trade workers. Media attention has grown recently due to the investigation and trial of Robert Pickton, charged with the murders of 27 women and believed to be responsible for more.[15][16][17] [18]
MWWS in Iraq War
Critics of MWWS also point to the example of the media coverage of Jessica Lynch versus the coverage of Shoshana Johnson. Both were captured in the same ambush during the Iraq War on March 23, 2003, but Johnson received very little media attention in comparison to Lynch. Media critics suggest that Lynch's story was promoted because Lynch was a more palatable and identifiable figure to promote: a young, blonde white woman. Johnson, on the other hand, was a black woman who was a single mother.[19]
Criticisms of MWWS in the Media
- On July 4 2005, the collaborative website Kuro5hin posted an editorial highly critical of the media coverage of the investigation into the Natalee Holloway disappearance. The editorial accused the mass media of subtle racism for covering the Holloway case but ignoring the case of Reyna Alvarado-Carrera, a missing Hispanic girl. It was also critical of the great expense and time devoted to the search for a single missing person despite many other issues of concern the media could have covered instead. The openly combative and harsh tone of the editorial sparked hundreds of angry responses, including legal threats directed towards Kuro5hin's staff.[20]
- An episode of Without a Trace in 2006 had a "very special episode" devoted to the disparity between the coverage of a "missing white woman" and a missing black man, both high school students.[21]
Parodies of MWWS
- In 2004, American television's The Daily Show released America: The Book, which among other political topics parodied MWWS by offering a fictional formula regarding media coverage of a kidnapping. The equation went:
- In 1997, The Onion published an article titled "Ugly Girl Killed"[22] lampooning the public's lack of concern in cases where the victim happens to be less than pretty. It also parodied the JonBenét Ramsey investigation by juxtaposing the death with a child beauty pageant. The Onion also published in 2002 "Missing White Girl Drives Missing Black Girl From Headlines."[23]
- In the film Scary Movie, Cindy Campbell, who is being stalked by the killer, sends an email to police with the message "White woman in trouble!". Her house is immediately surrounded by several police cars.
See also
References
- ^ Diagnosing 'Missing White Woman Syndrome' Tom Foreman, CNN Correspondent, March 14, 2006, 'phrase invoked by Sheri Parks, a professor of American studies at the University of Maryland, College Park'
- ^ Eugene Robinson (June 10, 2005). "(White) Women We Love". Washington Post.
'choosing only young, white, middle-class women for the full damsel treatment'
- ^ Kristal Brent Zook (July, 2005). "Have you seen her? While the families of the missing struggle to bring national attention to their lost loved ones, they sift through the clues and pray for a miracle". Essence.
'"But missing Black women aren't featured as much," says Howard.'
{{cite news}}
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(help) - ^ Brian Cathcart (April 9, 2007). "The naming of Faye Turney". New Statesman.
"They recognised immediately that a woman in uniform is a much more powerful propaganda weapon than a man," wrote Parkin
- ^ Fiona Brookman (2005). Understanding Homicide. Sage Publications. p. 257. ISBN 0761947558.
- ^ "Holiday girl abducted, police say". BBC News. 2007-05-05. Retrieved 2007-05-14.
{{cite news}}
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(help) - ^ Editorial (2007-05-15). "Wild theories and a warped sense of priorities". The Independent. Retrieved 2007-05-19.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - ^ "Race Bias in Media Coverage of Missing Women?; Cheryl Hines Dishes on New Show", CNN, transcript, aired March 17, 2006
- ^ a b c d e f "Spotlight skips cases of missing minorities", USA Today, 2005
- ^ a b c d e f g "If you’re missing, it helps to be young, white and female", MSNBC, July 23, 2004
- ^ "House panel passes 'Dru's Law' in sex offender bill", USA Today, 2005
- ^ "Arrest made in S.C. man’s disappearance: 25-year-old student missing since June 2001", MSNBC, October 7, 2005
- ^ "Man Charged with Murder in Cold Case", WLTX, October 6, 2005
- ^ Mankiewicz, Josh. "Why do we care about Natalee, Laci, Jennifer?" Dateline NBC, August 5, 2005
- ^ "The missing women of Vancouver", CBC, January 19, 2007
- ^ "Edmonton's murdered women", CBC, January 4, 2007
- ^ "Aboriginal Women Many Missing - Many Murdered", Turtle Island Native Network
- ^ "Missing people"
- ^ "A case of race? One POW acclaimed, another ignored". Seattle Times. November 09, 2003.
{{cite news}}
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ignored (help) - ^ Kuro5hin:"First thread", "Second thread"
- ^ Gray, Ellen. "Farewell to 'West' & 'Malcolm'", Philadelphia Daily News (Knight Ridder Tribune Business News. Washington: May 11, 2006. pg. 1. Source type: Wire Feed ProQuest document ID: 1034983351 Text Word Count 596 (Subscription). retrieved June 7, 2007).
- ^ "Ugly Girl: Nation Unshaken By Not-So-Tragic Death", The Onion, January 29, 1997
- ^ "Missing White Girl Drives Missing Black Girl From Headlines", The Onion, July 17, 2002
External links
- Missing-girl cases differed - "Two 17 year old girls from Richmond, Va. One white, one black. Police deny bias."
- Met chief accuses media of racism - Head of London's police says murders in minority communities appear "not to interest the mainstream media"
- Press should not feel too smug after Blair's blunder – Journalist comments on Police Commissioner’s remarks
- New Statesman - Prof. of Journalism on male/female contrast
- Washington Post, Friday, June 10, 2005 - Eugene Robinson, '(white) women we love'