Lead
Major mainstream news outlets like ABC News and USA Today did not cover the case of Nolan Xavier Wells until three days after he initially went missing and was already declared dead. Their coverage neglected to help the search efforts and help investigators recover his location. Most mainstream news outlets didn’t cover the case at all.
Wells, an 18-year-old Black college student, went missing on Horn Island, Mississippi, when he went to a Fourth of July celebration on the island with three White friends. His body was found two days later by a park ranger around 8:45 a.m. on Monday. Family members have confirmed his identity. The Emancipator reached out to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department and is awaiting law enforcement confirmation.
Significance
Mainstream media outlets often neglect covering Black missing person cases, which increases the challenges of search and recovery efforts. Instead, mainstream news outlets are more likely to cover the missing person cases of young White girls and women.
The late journalist, Gwen Ifill, characterized this approach as “Missing White Woman Syndrome” because they garner a significantly higher proportion of media attention when they go missing. Research from the Columbia Journalism Review found that across news outlets, missing person cases that involved young, White, and female victims got almost 10 times the amount of coverage compared to Black and Brown missing person cases. With more media coverage, these cases got more access to information and law enforcement resources during the search.
Who this impacts
According to the Black and Missing Foundation, Black people make up about 13% of the national population, yet nearly 40% of missing person cases. Disproportionate news coverage and inadequate police response further the problem.
The power structure
The disproportionate representation and coverage affects how many eyes are out searching for missing Black people. There’s a tremendous urgency to secure information in missing person cases. It can oftentimes be a matter of life or death for the missing person. In effect, newsrooms and media outlets are essentially making decisions on whose lives are worthy of attention and help.
What experts say
The Black and Missing Foundation Inc. (BAMFI) worked with the Washington Association of Black Journalists (WABJ) to produce a media guide to address media bias in covering missing persons cases.
“Our mission is to ensure that all missing persons, regardless of race, socioeconomic status, or geography, receive equal media coverage,” Natalie Wilson, co-founder of BAMFI, said in a press release. “By working together with WABJ, we are creating a pathway for journalists to remove unintentional bias and establish a fairer, more consistent approach to reporting these cases.”
Some experts and human rights groups have called for federal laws and guidelines to ensure that all missing person cases receive equitable amounts of resources from law enforcement.
Certain states have made individual efforts to combat these ongoing injustices to the Black community. California implemented an “Ebony Alerts” system that heightens awareness when Black children and women go missing. An official within former President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice recommended the federal government understand the success and challenges of state-led initiatives to enact a more robust federal response to Black missing persons cases.
What can you do?
Anyone with further information on the Wells case is asked to contact the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department at 228-769-3063.
The link to the media guide by the Black and Missing Foundation and the Washington Association of Black Journalists can be found here.
Deeper dive
To support and learn more about the Black and Missing Foundation, please visit their website here.
