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Original poster

Why do some missing people make headlines and others don’t?

80 replies

usernamechanged1 · 11/02/2023 18:22

I read an article in The Independent about women who have gone missing and (to my knowledge) have had very little media attention.

Independent article

With the ongoing case of Nicola Bulley in mind, why do you think that some people are headline news and others barely make a ripple?

OP posts:
AllWorkYoPlait · 11/02/2023 18:26

Race and class of the missing person are a huge factor in whether or not people give a shit.

Finer details of each incident are another.

DerangedViper · 11/02/2023 18:27

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missing_white_woman_syndrome

Heathcote294 · 11/02/2023 18:28

For me personally, as a mum in her 40's who has a very similar routine of school run then dog walk it's an entirely relatable situation so I feel very invested in it. I can imagine how her family and friends must be feeling. Maybe I'm a popular demographic that uses the media outlets that have made this daily headline news. I also think it is a rare situation. I know people go missing all the time but I think this is a particularly unusual case.

mackthepony · 11/02/2023 18:30

She's good looking, has a family, moderately middle class and she's white.

A black homeless drug addict doesn't have the same shock factor

VladmirsPoutine · 11/02/2023 18:33

Race and class. This also echoes the tragic case of Sarah Everard.

mackthepony · 11/02/2023 18:35

I do also think if there's a media 'gap' then missing people can fill that gap.

Original poster
usernamechanged1 · 11/02/2023 18:37

I do understand why some people get zero media attention (homeless people, sex workers etc) and also why killers often target them - less chance of being missed.

However, some of the women in that article were white, mothers, grandmothers etc. No idea of their social class but it’s terrible that this (alongside race, status etc) is the criteria that decides who we hear about.

OP posts:
thesnailandthewhale · 11/02/2023 18:41

It's to do with relatability - we are always more 'interested' in cases that reflect a similar life to ours.

NancyJoan · 11/02/2023 18:44

Race/class/looks (ugh), but also anything that makes a good story. Busy mum/pretty chef/trainee doctor gone missing is a better story than single woman (ugh again).

StrictlyAFemaleFemale · 11/02/2023 18:45

Gabby Petitos dad highlighted the plight of missing native American women during the hunt for Gabby. Incredible human being.

IsThisTheEndo · 11/02/2023 18:51

This is from the US but interesting nonetheless...it looks at how much press you'd get if you went missing based on your demographics

areyoupressworthy.com/

FunnyItWorkedLastTime · 11/02/2023 18:59

It's partly race, class and looks, partly whether there are any eye-catching details, partly random "slow news day", and partly how hard the friends and family push the media and how good they are at networking, and presenting the story (this can intersect with class - some people are more likely to have friends whose brothers were at uni with the crime correspondent of ITN or whatever).

MintJulia · 11/02/2023 19:06

Race, class, the circumstances. How photogenic they are.

How determined the family are, how skilled with social media.

What the police suspect has happened, and whether that can be helped by lots of publicity

What else is going on in the news at the time.

Kingoftheroad · 11/02/2023 19:06

Race, class, policing priorities. The McCanns are a classic example.

Getir · 11/02/2023 19:08

I think it's pretty obvious really. White attractive MC female.

heyyouitsme · 11/02/2023 19:09

I think it helped that the story was interesting, there is a lot to detail to it. It has a dog Involved, empathy for animals I see a lot. Dogs specifically as they can be seen to be very loyal.

The details give the press a mystery to present to the public to solve, which will keep them reading news articles for updates. To work out if they were right or not.

StaunchMomma · 11/02/2023 19:12

I find this so upsetting.

I saw something once about the other children who went missing on the same week as Madeleine McCann. Not a peep in the papers/on TV.

The press are truly the worst of us.

xJoy · 11/02/2023 19:20

All of the above but this is a real mystery. If this were a crack addicted sex worker, people wouldn't be mystified , they'd think, a punter killed her. It's not surprising that this is harder to 'square' . All the scenarios are played out and none makes sense. I didn't hear of this woman until she'd already been missing 6 days.

whatadoodledo · 11/02/2023 19:24

I've thought about this too and have come to the sad conclusion that it's based on race and 'class' which is pretty sad really.

The person earlier in this thread who said it happens because it's a relatable person is a prime example of this - everyone is relatable to someone.

DillDanding · 11/02/2023 19:27

Race, class and age.

Although I think the level of armchair sleuthing in this case is unprecedented.

MILLYmo0se · 11/02/2023 19:27

Social media presence can also be relevant. Living in a town where sadly many people see the river flowing through it as their last resort it can make big differences in how wide a story spreads, if it hits national media, how long it stays in the media, how many volunteers join the search and for how long. For instance a young man involved in a couple of clubs with several sisters with largish sm following will generate much more coverage and involvement than a single man in his 30s from a small family, and im thinking of specific cases here. During the huge searches for the young man they thankfully found him and the older one (weeks after he had drowned) and a third that was known to have gone in on the far side of the bay that no one here really would have been aware of being missing but the whole country knew of the first man going missing. I thought it must have been so hard on the other two families to have seen the number of people, posters, searches and general energy around finding the young man as they battled on their own to find their loved ones but it was really down to the groundwork his sisters and clubmates did online in pushing his name and story out there.

SquirmOfEels · 11/02/2023 19:42

DillDanding · 11/02/2023 19:27

Race, class and age.

Although I think the level of armchair sleuthing in this case is unprecedented.

And how media savvy friends/family are.

Look at the level of coverage for the disappearance of Sarah Everard. Who worked in PR and who had distraught colleagues who also did so. And who ran a very successful campaign. I'm local, and the posters were out on Friday and by Saturday morning, running, dog-walking and other local groups had been contacted, all sorts of people alerted. Plus a social media campaign.

SusiePevensie · 11/02/2023 19:48

All of the above. This kid - black, male, working class - got almost zero.coverage and the police got away with ignoring his disappearance: www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jul/06/watchdog-finds-met-police-failings-in-richard-okorogheye-disappearance. And that's with a loving, capable mother who tried her damndest and gave one of the most heartbreaking interviews I've ever seen.

Workjobfind · 11/02/2023 20:07

Sometimes the police need to get the nearest and dearest in front of the press as part of their investigations.