Abstract
The media plays an important role in a missing persons case. Media is a powerful tool in raising public awareness and support, traversing police investigation, family liaison, and the business of media. This article reports on a focus group of seven people with a long-term missing family member, and two focus group facilitators, one of whom was also the family member of a missing person (n=9). The aim of the study was to better understand how people, who have lived experience of a family member missing, participate in media opportunities, to understand impact. Thematic analysis generated five major themes 1) Being the ‘right’ kind of missing person; the perfect victim and viewing family as ‘talent’ 2) Moving on and the mysticism of missing persons 3) The costs and benefits of ‘speaking up’ 4) Media strategy, acceptance and preparedness, and 5) Control and advocacy within and outside of the media. For many families, engaging with the media is a double-edged sword, viewed as necessary in garnering community support, public interest and thus resource allocation, while also being frustrating, traumatising and reductive of their loss. Media guidelines are needed to limit the harm of media engagement for families of the missing.
Recommended Citation
Wayland, S., O'Keeffe, L., Fatema, S., Byrne, A., & Paton, E. (2026). ‘‘If it bleeds, does it lead?’: lived experiences of media engagement for families of missing persons.. International Journal of Missing Persons, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.55917/2769-7045.1016
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