Why are the only missing persons cases that make it on the news concerning young, pretty, white females?

Question

Statistically, almost 3000 people are reported missing daily here in the US, but the vast majority of those are misreported or "found" or family abductions, etc., but over 100 missing persons cases a year fall into the category of non-family abductions (kidnappings, etc.)

You would think that with statistics like these we would see a missing persons case on the news every 3 days - but we don't. Seems like all we hear about missing persons is once every month or so we see some young, attractive, white woman who goes missing or a cute little white girl.

Why does the media focus only on cases with young, pretty, white females?

Answer 1

Cause they are the ones that are missing.

If it isn't an abduction, it tends to be a runaway

Answer 2

Because it gets ratings.

That's nothing to be proud of, and newspapers are a little better about this stuff, but it happens.

Answer 3

You are mostly right, the numbers of female stories do vastly outnumber those of missing males.

Perhaps there are more females kidnapped, or perhaps it sells papers better, and holds the interest of listeners and viewers.

Answer 4

I guess they're racist, or at the very least biased and prejudice.    

I did once see a case of a little black girl.  She got away and gave the man what was coming to him.  

So, maybe it's that the little white girls are so sheltered and kept in the dark about reality that they need more help.  Sad, but true.

Then again, maybe the majority just happen to be white?  I don't know.

Answer 5

There are told what to say and not to say.Media is controlled by governments and people with lots of money and power.Society can only accept so called beautiful people.Look at TV shows,movies and the pages of a magazine.News networks also must follow this idea.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

you are exactly right when any other race goes missing you barely hear of it but when a white pretty girl goes missing you see it on the news around the clock. and thats not right because their are other missing people to not just one type

Answer 8

The media will report on what it sees fit on any given day.  Most of the time, when the media is showing a "young, attractive, white woman" that has been identified as missing, it is because her family has gone to the media for help, or the family have hired a spokesperson (PR firm) to get the word out.  Sometimes, the family does so at the insistence of the police, especially when there is a large reward involved for information.  Other times -mostly on slow news days- national media will pick up information from small, local news stations, who do, mostly cover missing person stories of any gender, age, and race.  In this case, statistically, young white women, for whatever reason, tend to keep the viewers tuned in, and the papers selling.