How the Case of Gabby Petito Captivated the Internet

Martin G. Reynolds, executive director of the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, said he was struck by the news agencies’ disproportionate attention to missing white women, a focus he believes is heightened by competitive coverage. (At a journalism conference in 2004, PBS news anchor Gwen Ifill described the phenomenon as “the missing white woman syndrome.”)

Industry demographics are an important factor, Reynolds said.

“Our editorial offices do not reflect the diversity of the country, and the people in the editors are even less diverse,” said Mr Reynolds, whose organization works with colored journalists. “Until journalism corrects this, we will be more and more irrelevant to the audience that reflects the future.”

The online interest in Ms. Petito’s case also led the news editors to follow her story closely.

“Journalism in general tends to be reactionary, and if we see something explode on any of these platforms we’ll jump over it,” Reynolds said.

Alvin Williams, host of Affirmative Murder, a podcast focusing on true crimes involving black and brown victims, repeated Mr. Reynolds’ analysis.

“I’m incredibly glad she got the resources to find her,” said 29-year-old Williams in an interview on Sunday before law enforcement officials announced they had recovered a body that will likely be Ms. Petito there is an obviously disproportionate focus on their story, ”he said.

“We can play the game ‘Oh, that’s because she was a vlogger’ and play all of those things, but we can also see that she’s a blonde, petite Generation Z girl and that gets the clicks,” said Mr Williams added.