A Dangerous Distortion of our Families: Representations of Families, By Race, in News and Opinion Media Dr. Travis L. Dixon Communication Alumni Professorial Scholar & Professor of Communication

News is important disseminator of stereotypes

Family and Race Study: Methods A. We included the network news programs from the three major broadcast networks: CBS Evening News, ABC World News Tonight, and NBC Nightly News B. We also included the major cable outlets’ flagship programs: Fox Cable News, Cable News Network CNN, and MSNBC C. We next included national newspapers & national sample of local sources (blogs): 1) Christian online news sites (e.g., Christianity Today), 2) Newspapers of national influence (e.g., New York Times), and 3) Conservative websites (e.g., Breitbart) D. A composite weeks of programming taken between 2015-2016 + a search term sample using family terms E. 830 news stories were analyzed for this study

Family and Race Study: Coded Variables A. Features of defendants and law defenders (e.g. police officers) 1. Race (Black, White, Other) 2. Poverty and Welfare use 3. Father involvement/absenteeism 3. Criminal involvement of family members B. Crimes and activities tracked by the US. Government (Census bureau, FBI, etc.)

Family and Race Study: Poverty Race of families depicted as poor Frequency of families depicted as Poora Percent of families depicted as Poorb Percent of poor families according to census datac Percentage Point Differentiald 95% Confidence Interval %e Black 93 59% 24% +35* + / – 8 Other People of Color 37 10% +14* + / – 7 White 27 17% 66% -49* + / – 6 Total 157 100%  

Family and Race Study: Welfare Identifiable Race of Each Family Frequency of welfare family portrayalsa Percent of welfare family portrayalsb Percent of welfare families according to US reportsc Percentage Point Differentiald 95% Confidence Interval % Black 59 60% 42% +18* + / – 10 White 22 23% 13% +10* + / – 9 Other People of Color 17 17% 45% -28* + / – 7 Total 98 100%  

News of unavailable fathers

Family and Race Study: Unavailable Fathers Identifiable Race of fathers depicted as unavailable Frequency of fathers depicted as unavailablea Percent of fathers depicted as unavailableb Percent of unavailable fathers according to CDCc Percentage Point Differentiald 95% Confidence Interval % Black 20 60% 25% +35* + / – 16 White 7 20% 29% -9 + / – 13 Other People of Color 46% -26* Total 34 100%  

Family and Race Study: Criminal Behavior Identifiable Race of family members associated with a crime Frequency of family members associated with a crimea Percent of family members associated with a crimeb Percent of family members associated with a according to crime reportsc Percentage Point Differentiald 95% Confidence Interval % Black 37 37% 26% +11* + / – 10 Other People of Color 34 35% 4% +31 + / – 9 White 28 28% 70% -42* Total 99 100%  

Family and Race Study: Findings/Implications 1. Black families as poor, welfare dependent people and this is an overrepresentation 2. Black fathers just as involved as White fathers but misrepresented as uninvolved 3. Black family members overrepresented as criminals 4. Creates view of social instability with Black families versus White families which are seen as socially stable 5. Politicians use this racialized narrative to push policies that harm the poor and cut the social safety net