KING 5 News takes new gender-inclusive approach to coverage of victimized Indigenous people

KING 5 News has switched to a gender inclusive approach in its coverage of the problem of Washington’s missing and murdered Indigenous people. This comes after the Seattle-based NBC affiliate did not acknowledge the existence of male victims in the twelve previous stories they published on this problem. That omission was noteworthy given that men and boys are an almost equal share of missing and murdered Indigenous people.

See related: Attorney General’s Task Force for “Indigenous Women and People” Sends Bizarre, Sexist Message

Notice the difference between these headlines from 2018-2019…

• Seattle Council passes legislation to improve data on missing and murdered indigenous women
• Officials continue to address high number of missing Native American women

…and these headlines from 2021…

• ‘They were invisible’: Washington makes progress in handling missing indigenous persons cases
• Bring them home: Grassroots groups seek closure for families of missing indigenous people

In 2018 and 2019, KING 5 published a dozen articles and videos about the prevalence of Native American people going missing and being murdered, and the inadequate response from government and law enforcement. None of those stories acknowledged the existence of male victims, who make up about half the victims. Collectively, KING 5’s articles and videos included many instances of the words women, girls, sister, niece, aunt, and grandma. The words men, boys, brother, nephew, uncle, and grandpa did not appear.

This is a textbook example of news media’s occasional blindness toward male suffering. While public advocacy for the well-being and protection of women is abundant, it is scarce for men, and journalists report on the issues that politicians and community leaders call attention to. Still, when reporting on problems that ostensibly impact one gender, journalists should dig deeper by asking, ‘How does this problem affect others?’ and ‘What additional statistics should I see to get the whole story?’

50 out of 106 is nothing?

KING 5 published articles on back-to-back days in June 2019 highlighting the findings of a report by the Washington State Patrol. Those articles prominently featured the report’s listing of 56 missing Native American women. Neither article mentioned the report’s finding of 50 missing Native American men. (Nor was there mention of the report’s finding that among Washington’s missing persons of all races, the majority are male: 1,019 male, 784 female.)

Not only are men and boys almost half of the missing, but they are likely 50% or more of those who are murdered. Nationally, victims of homicide are more than three times as likely to be male than female. We have not yet found statistics showing the gender distribution among Native American victims of homicide in Washington. That would be important information to include in well-rounded reporting about the increasingly high-profile issue of missing and murdered Indigenous persons.

Inclusive reporting begins 2021

Washington Initiative for Boys and Men commends and thanks KING 5, whose slogan is “Stand for Truth,” for acknowledging – beginning with their reporting in 2021 – that men, women, boys, and girls are all affected by this problem, and by extension that people of all genders are deserving of protection.

KING 5’s articles and videos since May 2021 have featured gender-inclusive headlines and content that mentions the existence of male victims.

Headline at KING5.com	Date published
Families of missing indigenous people demand action amid crisis of cold cases	7/20/21
Poor data, racism fueling crisis of missing and murdered indigenous people, activists say	7/19/21
Bring them home: Grassroots groups seek closure for families of missing indigenous people	7/19/21
‘They were invisible’: Washington makes progress in handling missing indigenous persons cases	5/5/21

KING 5 did not publish any stories about this topic during the year 2020, based on our search of their website and YouTube channel.

Gynocentric reporting in 2018 and 2019

KING 5’s stories in 2018 and 2019 had gynocentric headlines, and their content failed to acknowledge that Indigenous men and boys are going missing and being murdered in large numbers, like Washington’s Indigenous women and girls.

Headline at KING5.com	Date published
Seattle Council passes legislation to improve data on missing and murdered indigenous women	9/9/19
Effort launched to improve data on missing and murdered indigenous women	7/29/19
Missing and Murdered Native American Women Report delivered to State Legislature	6/17/19
Washington state alters approach to finding 56 missing indigenous women	6/5/19
New report finds 56 missing Native American women in Washington	6/4/19
New law addresses missing indigenous women in Washington state	4/24/19
WSP examining cases of missing and murdered Native American women	1/3/19
Officials continue to address high number of missing Native American women	12/27/18
Seattle has most cases of missing and murdered indigenous women in the country	11/15/18

KING 5 published in 2019 two articles with gender-neutral headlines. The content of those articles, though, acknowledged only female victims.

6 more Washington tribes gain access to national crime database	12/17/19
Attorney General Barr unveils plan on missing, slain Native Americans	11/22/19