Have you ever stopped to wonder what would happen if you went missing? More specifically, how much press coverage would you be “worth?”
Well, the Columbia Journalism Review– a bi-annually published magazine created by the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism– recently set out to answer this question for people of all demographics.
Two weeks ago, a new digital tool was launched in which people can input their age, gender identity, geographic location, and ethnicity.
Then, users can see how many news stories they would receive in the event they went missing.
The idea of calculating your newsworthiness may sound morbid, but the tool is part of a larger effort to raise awareness about “missing white women syndrome.”
In other words, how news organizations are less likely to cover the cases of any missing person who does not fit that demographic.
This term has been around for two decades after Gwen Ifill, the late journalist and author, coined it back in 2004.
But, it is clear that news outlets across the country have made little progress since then in terms of inclusive coverage decisions.
This reality was only amplified after twenty-two-year-old Gabby Petito disappeared and was later found murdered.
alexvh – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person
The media frenzy that ensued during her case, while undeniably tragic, also pointed to the imbalanced reporting efforts for people who are not young, white, and female.
In turn, The Columbia Journalism Review hopes that its new tool, entitled “How Much Press Are You Worth?” will play a role in media coverage reform.
After all, the amount of people who know about a person’s disappearance is significantly tied to that person’s chance of being found.
“Columbia Journalism Review believes it’s time for change. Who you are and what you look like should not determine your likelihood of being found.”
The digital tool was based on a nationally representative sample of over three thousand and six hundred news stories about missing persons collected between January and November of 2021.
“Of this sample, 2,383 stories concerned one or more specific missing individuals, covering 735 unique missing persons who were identified and categorized by age, gender, race/ethnicity, and geography.”
Finally, each missing person was cross-referenced against the NAMUS database, and the publishers, potential reach, and social sharing for each missing person’s news story were analyzed.
In addition to seeing how much news coverage you would be “worth,” users of the online tool can see how many times they would appear in local news outlets versus national news outlets.
Users can also learn what news outlets would be more likely to report on their disappearance and what percentage of Americans would hear about their case.
For instance, eighty-six percent of Americans would hear about a missing white twenty-two-year-old woman from Long Island.
Less than five percent of Americans would hear about a missing fifty-year-old Hispanic male from Texas.
“Our hope is to force change from readers and viewers,” said Kyle Pope, the editor-in-chief of the Columbia Journalism Review.
“Two decades of op-eds and research have not shifted ingrained newsroom habits; reporters continue to revert to skewed coverage, ignoring a much bigger story.”
To learn more about the tool, input your own demographic information, and share Columbia Journalism Review’s mission, you can visit the link here.
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