MSNBC’s Joy Reid Calls Gabby Petito Case ‘Missing White Woman Syndrome’
Joy Reid of MSNBC brought up the issue of race during a discussion of the media’s wide coverage of missing Gabby Petito’s case on Monday, characterizing the situation as “missing White woman syndrome.”
“If you’ve been watching the news for the past few days or on Twitter or Tik Tok, you’re probably familiar with the name Gabby Petito,” Reid said. “The 22 year old aspiring social media influencer, who was reported missing after her fiancé returned from their van life excursion without her.”
The MSNBC host said during a segment of her show “The ReidOut,” that although Petito’s family deserved “answers and justice,” she pointed out how not the same media coverage is given to non-White people when they go missing like the case of the the 22-year-old Petito.
“It goes without saying that no family should ever have to endure that kind of pain. And the Petito family certainly deserves answers and justice,” Reid said.
“But the way this story has captivated the nation has many wondering, why not the same media attention when people of color go missing?,” she added.
MSNBC’s Joy Ann Reid: Media reporting Gabby Petito’s disappearance/presumed murder is symptom of "Missing White Woman Syndrome." pic.twitter.com/UYAWgaDyYr
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) September 21, 2021
“Missing White woman syndrome”
Reid then brought up the race issue saying the highlight given to Petito’s case is because she is a white woman.
“Well, the answer actually has a name: Missing White woman syndrome,” the MSNBC host said.
“The term coined by the late and great Gwen Iffil to describe the media and public fascination with missing White women like Laci Peterson or Natalee Holloway, while ignoring cases involving missing people of color,” she added, referring to two prominent cases of missing women in the past.
Even Reid’s MSNBC however has widely covered the Gabby Petito issue, and an opinion article on the missing lady was prominently displayed on the network’s website on Monday morning.
Reid then spent the rest of the episode talking about a number of missing Black and Native American people she said she had never heard about, similar to the Petito case.
She also cited statistics from the Black and Missing Foundation that suggested the media coverage gap between missing White women and non-White women was due to missing minorities being classified as runaways, minority adults being labeled as associated with crime, and minorities being dismissed because it’s assumed they live most of their lives with poverty and crime as a constant companion.
The MSNBC host concluded the segment by implying that missing women of color were often overlooked because they don’t look like the daughters or granddaughters of newsroom executives, a reference to one of her guests’ earlier claims on the show that stories about missing non-White women weren’t sensational enough for the White, middle-aged males in charge of newsrooms.
But Reid’s remarks on “missing white woman syndrome” sparked a frenzy online, with Twitter users blasting Reid for her “flat out disgraceful” comments.
This is not the time to play the "race card" @JoyAnnReid Are your ratings that bad? America, below is Reid's latest racist rant!
Joy Ann Reid: Media is Reporting Gabby Petito's disappearance as "Missing White Woman Syndrome."— TheLeoTerrell (@TheLeoTerrell) September 21, 2021
“This is not the time to play the “race card” @JoyAnnReid Are your ratings that bad? America, below is Reid’s latest racist rant! Joy Ann Reid: Media is Reporting Gabby Petito’s disappearance as “Missing White Woman Syndrome,” Civil rights attorney and Fox News contributor Leo Terrell said.
I told you this would happen. Somebody was going to play the race card on the Gabby Pitito story, and most likely it would be Joy Reid.https://t.co/TW0iHRXSZr
— Neal Boortz — Puddin’ Stick (@Talkmaster) September 21, 2021
Another comment read: “No, Joy. If you care about the black community then YOU report on the 64,000 black women missing & black on black crime. You are the media. You stoke division & refuse to shed light on the people you pretend to care about.”
Joy Reid "The Gabby case is missing white woman syndrome" No, Joy. If you care about the black community then YOU report on the 64,000 black women missing & black on black crime. You are the media. You stoke division & refuse to shed light on the people you pretend to care about
— TheM0dAlice (@TheM0dalice) September 21, 2021
“Truly a sad, darkened soul,” a user posted on Twitter reacting to Reid’s statement.
Truly a sad, darkened soul. https://t.co/xLHsSSHYec
— Monica On Air (@monicaonairtalk) September 21, 2021
GOP candidate Lavern Spicer commented: “This is pure evil speaking.”
