Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think the op is saying they wouldn't be interested in the story at all if it wasn't a white woman protagonist.
Perhaps if Holmes weren't a photogeneic young white woman, she wouldn't have received the same attention from VC and immensely influential U.S. political players, which would also reduce the amount of media attention she ultimately got. Hard to separate the variables from this equation.
Gender likely didn't help with VC/political players -- that was primarily family connections from Holmes dad. The media hype probably got a boost from gender.