RACISM IN THE MEDIA A look at how media in America portrays race

TABLE OF CONTENT 3. Reflection 4. Racism on Television 5. Racism on Network News 6. Chart: Portrayal of Race in Prime Time Television 7. Chart: Social Media Usage in America by Race 8. Summary Reflection

REFLECTION The media dominates lives in America today. Every day I watch television, check social websites, read internet news articles, listen to the radio, and view the media through other ways. I know that racism is involved in every aspect of the media, but in subtle ways. The media is affecting our subconscious. Most of what is portrayed in the media is geared toward white viewers. Most popular actors, news anchors, and musicians are white. It has become the “norm” to view life the way the majority population does. I don’t know much about the different aspects of the media, but I do know that it affects everyone.

RACISM ON TELEVISION Latinos make up a little over one-tenth of the population in the United States. However, on American television, only 3-4% of the characters are Latino. When they are depicted, they are portrayed as lazy, criminals, unintelligent, and uneducated. This is very troublesome. The majority of Americans use television portrayals to stereotype Latinos. The stereotyping isn’t intentional; if they do not interact with Latinos on a day-to-day basis, they truly believe that is what Latinos are like. A study was conducted to test the effects of media on race with respect to white viewers. Participants were white undergraduate students. The participants read three different scripts of proposed television shows. The scripts starred either a white male or a Latino male. Each script portrayed the character as stereotypical (college drop-out), ambiguous, or counter-stereotypical (graduate). When the lead character was Latino, participants responded that he was less likely to graduate than the white character. A second study was performed to assess racial identification. Clips that were 25 minutes long were viewed. The same parameters were used; a white male or Latino male, clearly uneducated, ambiguous, or educated. When asked to assess self-esteem, participants were more likely to be satisfied with their self-worth after viewing the clip with the Latino character. This was interpreted as racial identification with the in-group. Overall, the media plays an important role in racism. It can subconsciously expose people to be inclined to racism. Works Cited Mastro, Dana E., Elizabeth Behm-Morawitz, and Maria A. Kopacz. "Exposure To Television Portrayals Of Latinos: The Implications Of Aversive Racism And Social Identity Theory." Human Communication Research 34.1 (2008): Academic Search Premier. Web. 29 Nov

RACISM ON NETWORK NEWS Current media coverage is dominantly white. Most news programs on major networks are anchored by white men and women, the stories highlighted cover mostly white current events, and official sources are also white. Minorities are only sometimes involved in topics about natural disasters and foreign affairs, among others. A study was performed to determine the races of reporters, news topics, race of the sources used, and the source itself. Three major news networks were analyzed for a random sampling of 28 days in Story topics ranged from sports and entertainment to health and business. Source types included citizens, officials, experts, etc. Races covered were White, Black, American Indian, Asian, Hispanic, and Middle Eastern. The results indicated that the topics were mainly white-oriented. Minorities appeared mostly in stories about weather and natural disasters and crime. Also, Whites were the majority of the depicted sources. Blacks appeared only 8.6% of the time, Middle Easterners 6.3%, Hispanics 4.2%, and Asians 2.6%; American Indians appeared only.01% of the time. Source types (athletes, attorneys, private citizens, etc.) were mostly White as well (86.4%). Blacks were mostly private citizens, athletes, and criminals. Hispanic source types mostly consisted of private individuals and activists. National news coverage can be found everywhere in America. Most coverage only depicts White people and their interests. If the news networks only cover these stories, then Americans will believe that only those stories matter. More stories about minorities need to be viewed. Works Cited Owens, Lynn C. "Network News: The Role Of Race In Source Selection And Story Topic." Howard Journal Of Communications 19.4 (2008): Academic Search Premier. Web. 29 Nov

PORTRAYAL OF RACE IN PRIME TIME TELEVISION The chart compares the percentage of the race of the characters in prime time television in the United States in 2000 and Works Cited Mastro, Dana E. "The Portrayal Of Racial Minorities On Prime Time Television." Journal Of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 44.4 (2000): 690. Academic Search Premier. Web. 1 Dec Monk-Turner, Elizabeth, Mary Heiserman, Crystle Johnson, Vanity Cotton, and Manny Jackson. “The Portrayal of Racial Minorities on Prime Time Television: A Replication of the Mastro and Greenberg Study a Decade Later.” Studies in Popular Culture. Popular Culture Association in the South 32.2 (2010). Web. Nov. 30, 2013.

SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE IN AMERICA BY RACE Works Cited Holcomb, Jesse, Jeffrey Gottfried, and Amy Mitchell. “News Use Across Social Media Platforms.” Pew Research Journalism Project. Pew Research Center, Nov Web. Nov. 30, Social media plays a huge role in America today. The chart breaks down the usage of social media by web site as well as race.

SUMMARY REFLECTION I have learned a lot about racism and the media in America. Just as I assumed, it is dominated by white culture. There are not very many television shows, movies, news stories, etc. geared toward minorities. This is because most Americans are not minorities. However, the racial demographics of the country are constantly changing and are predicted to change in the future. The total number of minorities will soon outgrow the number of the majority. Maybe then the media will alter its content.