Missing women news coverage and implications of standpoint theory

Abstract

Missing women are not a new story. However, the disparity between who tells the story of missing women, in what way and with what context, is one not fully documented across presses. Utilising standpoint theories, this research examines more than 250 North American-based news articles detailing the coverage of missing women. Multiple themes emerge within the data set: the overall missing person story, social commentary, family perspective and changes/action taken. The study finds that both Indigenous and Black presses tell a more contextually complete story about missing women, with more thematic news coverage, along with greater calls for changes and action. Indigenous media, specifically, has more multi-thematic stories. This research highlights the need for more frequent coverage of missing women of colour and for news organisations to commit to coverage by providing not just event or episodic news, but contextual stories covered across time.