missing white woman syndrome

Coined by American journalist, television newscaster and author Gwen Ifill.

missing white woman syndrome (uncountable)

1. (derogatory) The disproportionate media coverage of a missing person or similar case involving a young, white, upper-middle-class woman, contrasted with lesser coverage of males, non-white ethnicities, etc.
   • [2021 October 8, Helen Rosner, “The Long American History of “Missing White Woman Syndrome””, in The New Yorker‎, →ISSN:

     The Petito case, which is still unfolding (her fiancé, with whom she’d been travelling, is believed to be in hiding) seemed like another instance of what the late journalist Gwen Ifill famously described as “missing white woman syndrome”: a hunger for stories about victims who look like Petito, to the exclusion of all others.]

• missing white girl syndrome