This week I would like you to take a look at a few examples of how the media has covered different events. Historically the media has played a crucial role in political successes such as the civil rights movement. The media has the power to influence the political agenda and frame issues and individuals in influential ways. Often the media is referred to as the "4th branch of government," in charge of oversight and responsible to hold political leaders accountable. However others see the media as perpetuating bias and power structures by highlighting shocking and violent news, often disproportionally focusing on racial and ethnic minorities, as well as supporting a clearly partisan bias. Others see racial and ethnic minorities simply lacking in representation on TV.
Explore some of the following clips and then comment generally on how media coverage affects racial or ethnic groups in America. What is the role of media in the process today? Has it changed from prior media coverage of racially charged issues? What types of bias do you notice? Is it fair coverage? What role should the media take? What is the role of the public in a time when creating and sharing information is so easy especially via social media?
Feel free to add other clips that you find interesting and relevant, including recent clips of discussions of race during the lead up to the 2020 election.
Video 1: ABC coverage of the Rodney King verdict in 1991
Video 2: Malcolm X appears on a television show in Chicago called "City Desk" on March 17, 1963.
Video 3: Coverage of 2008 Election on CNN
Video 4: Reaction to the George Zimmerman (Trayvon Martin) Case and verdict
Video 5: The Good and the Bad of Media Coverage of Ferguson
Video 6: The "Unite the Right" Protest at Charlottesville, VA
First, I want to make a distinction between news media and art/entertainment. Too often the two are grouped together and while both are very influential, I believe they very have different goals and responsibilities. While diversity in Hollywood is a major issue, as presented in "Where is My Family on TV?" and in last years' #SoWhiteOscars campaign, I do have an optimistic outlook on where the industry is headed. Online streaming companies such as Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, etc., have allowed more interesting and unique material to be produced and I have hope that more shows like Insecure, Transparent, and Orange is the New Black will continued to be made.
ReplyDeleteAs for bias media coverage, I am always very frustrated with interviews similar to the one conducted in Video 2 with Malcolm X. I think good journalism is often confused with rude and dismissive questioning. In my opinion, a good journalist does not necessarily ask "tough" or invasive questions but strives to truthfully understand the interviewee and their point of view. In Video 5, I think Barack Obama is exactly right in his comment about the news covering what makes for "good TV." I don't think that today's problem with the media is necessarily journalists being racist or prejudice in coverage but driven to cover news in a way that will attract more viewers. However, much of the news covered promotes and intensifies racist and prejudice beliefs that are already held by the public. What I find most interesting is that people on both sides of the political spectrum believe the media to be biased even with coverage on the same event. I think that is what confuses me most on what we, as Americans (and including myself), expect from the media.
I completely agree and share the same feelings that you have pointed out with the Malcolm X video. A related interview that I was frustrated by was the questioning of Maria Altmann in the late 1990s (I think it was 1998 to be specific) when she was questioned by lawyers on her family's painting that was stolen by the Nazis during WWII (because her family was Jewish) and decades became a cultural art piece to Austria. The lawyers questioning on irrelevant subjects such as her marriage and career and purposely tried to make her seem like a traitor or thief to Austrian art.
DeleteIn relation to media's role today in on racial related issues. It has a massive role and it in itself is divided on views and rhetoric they plan to use. For example, MSNBC would be normally on the liberal side whereas FOX news is on the more conservative. Their coverages and segments in itself can be biased because they know they have a particular audience to persuade. For example, on the O'Reilly Factor on FOX news there is this segment called Watter's World. Jesse Watters did a segment in Chinatown to ask asians, specifically Chinese people, on what they thought about the 2016 election (it was filmed Oct. 2016). Watters segment was obviously to portray asians as unaware of politics and targeted mostly foreign-borns because of low English speaking ability. Many seeing this would already conceive the notion that it is biased and should not be taken seriously. However, the segment was conducted because of its audience and they are aware that many of their audience may share the same view or trust this coverage. The link to the video is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJmnLzw8NA4.
*Side Note: I forgot to mention that Maria Altmann's deposition was filmed for the news and some Austrian news journalists skewed the film to make her look guilty.
DeleteDelaney, I completely agree with your point about the distinction between news media and the entertainment industry because I do feel that they both impact the public in different ways. I share your hope that things in the entertainment industry are on the right track to more diversity, even looking at the improvement in diversity from last years Oscars to this years. It may take a while, but I believe we are on the right track, which I think is interesting when looking at the ways in which news media covers certain stories. I agree with you that news media does whatever it needs to to do gain views, rather than reporting objective facts, but I wonder what kind of pressure the public will put on news media to cover stories such as police brutality in the future if the public is more exposed to and open to diversity based on what they see in movies and on television.
DeleteI think the media plays a substantial role in perpetuating racial and ethnic stereotypes, and I would argue that news media functions on a bias. The kind of reporting for cases and 'breaking news' with racial undertones are generally handled in the same way. The video showing some of the coverage of the Rodney King verdict and the L.A. riots were formatted to show acts of anarchy while jury members (presumably jurors that were not Black) claim that given the opportunity they would return the same verdict. Continually, the news-clip from the riots in Ferguson after the death of Michael Brown shows Obama asking for peace alongside violent clips in Ferguson. The connecting thread here is violence with a narrative 'voice of reason' which frames the Black communities in both L.A. and Ferguson in a negative light. The coverage of the Trayvon Martin Case follows a similar style. The audience sees protests across the country, but return to the 'talking head' of the white narrator/interviewer. Although subtle, I find it crucial in analyzing racial biases to see who is reporting and who is being reported on. There is a power shift that is not always noticed on the surface, but I think upon further inspection, provides insight to societal power structures in place. If you look at the Malcolm X interview closely, you can see that the white interviewer becomes unnerved and almost threatened by Malcolm X's demand of space and his lack of compliance. I would not go as far to call the interviewer racist by any means, but I do see the discomfort in the power shift Malcolm X creates. Overall, racial biases in news media are subtle but nonetheless present and should be acknowledged upon deciding to consume information from these sources.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Margo that the media continuously perpetuates racial and ethnic stereotyping and functions mostly on bias. The points Margo brings up are valid ones that show how the news media subtly bring in bias to affect the viewers opinions. The examples of Rodney King Riots and the riots in Ferguson prove that.
DeleteI watched the third video covering the 2008 election. I was taken aback by the Anderson Cooper part where David Gergen basically dismisses President Barack Obama’s merit. He opens up with that it is too early to declare a victory because Barack Obama is black. That part surprised me because I do not think your race plays any part in whether or not you are worthy to be the leader of the free world. This just goes to show how the media made race a huge deal. However, as I continued to watch Gergen does give Obama credit for proving the American people he is worthy. He does say that this relation will decide the race factor for America. A different part of the clip shows a sheriff speaking before Sarah Palin and refers Obama as Barak Hussein Obama. Again, the media does not seem to condemn these words but only seems to overlook it. I think this has been a constant trend in news media. One of readings has definitely covered this topic well by saying that the media has regressed backwards when covering all cultures and topics fairly. I do not think that watching these clips have changed my opinion of the news media because I have always notice the bias ranging for news stories to representation.
In another political class I am taking at the moment we are currently discussing the criminal justice system and the numerous laws and problematic enforcement of these laws in relation to its original intent when created. One of the main points we focused on was bias. For example, when jurors are being interviewed about potential bias the may bring up when deciding a case, if they answered incorrectly they were corrected and explained why. However, it is naïve to think that from this screening interaction all personal bias would be eradicated. In bringing and calling attention to bias, the system is essentially bring about bias instead of expelling it.
ReplyDeleteIt is in this way that in our current state, being completely un-bias is unfeasible because it is a part of human nature. Bias then seems to be a double-edged sword not only to our criminal justice system, but in our news media and social media. Humans are inherently biased, so it only normal that news sources would be as well, some more than others. While I agree that media sources should not be bias, I think a more probable and hands-on approach to fixing the problem would be for us, the consumers, to alternate our media intake. We should try to inform ourselves using a variety of media sources, both from the left and right politically. After all, we are more likely to regularly tune into news coverage that reports and tell us what we want to hear rather than one that does not. Furthermore, I think if people were to listen to a wide variety of sources then perhaps the political climate of our nation wouldn’t be as polarized as it is right now.
I agree with Tierney, and this post reminded me of a column by David Leonhardt in the NYT yesterday that criticizes the bias of the WSJ and other publications owned by Rupert Murdoch. It seems that many media owners and editors are catering to the polarized political climate for their own interests, not the public’s. Though The Journal has always leaned left, it’s coverage has increasingly and, apparently intentionally, spun or neglected viewpoints that are in opposition or critical of its own(ers).
DeleteThe NYT piece notes that this bias is primarily enforced by the WSJ editors, while the reporters are insubordinate, trying to best maintain their journalistic integrity. It’s troubling to be reminded that even some of the most respected news publications in the world can become so entangled in politics (regarding countries or corporations) that it affects what information the public does or does not see.
I would echo Tierney’s suggestion to diversify our media sources, whether by their political views, scope, medium, or popularity. We must recognize our own responsibility to question the information we receive--and the biases attached to it--if we aspire to know the truth, a crucial catalyst for change. This responsibility applies to information beyond politics, however, and includes how racial and ethnic minorities are--or aren’t--represented.
I agree with Tierney, and I think that considering that news broadcasters are humans too, it would be unfair for us to expect that they would have no bias on what they are covering. However, I think it should be the viewer's responsibility to realize that everything that the newscasters are saying is not an unbiased opinion. I like how you mentioned that a well informed viewer would watch news from the liberal-leaning media, as well as the conservative- leaning media.
DeleteFor example, when I watched the Rodney King trial coverage that ABC news showed, I realized that ABC leans slightly liberal, so when they depicted the jurors' opinions, they showed them in a negative manner. It was strategic to have the video of the cops beating Rodney King playing while the jurors' were saying that there was "no excessive force." I'm sure that when they covered this news on a more conservative channel, they did not choose to play this video while listening to the jurors' opinions.
I could not agree more with the statement Tierney makes about the consumer taking more responsibility informing themselves from multiple media sources. I think what happens a lot of the time is people only get their news from one source and then fall into an anchoring trap which leads them to give disproportionate weight to the first piece of information they receive. This becomes a problem because then people become unwilling to listen or try to understand anything that differs from what they first heard or saw whether it was factual or not. on the flip side I do think it is up to the media and the journalist to do their best to report from a more neutral standpoint instead of a way that will bring in large numbers of viewers and high ratings.
DeleteI am not sure media has changed too much over the years. You still see interviews and debates happen like in the Malcolm X video where people are so dead set with their views and have no desire to understand why someone may have different ideas than them. Today's media seems to be a hostile place where everyone is attacking and talking over one another with no desire to hear what the other has to say.
I think that the media coverage is affecting races and ethnicities in the U.S. throughout the years, media coverage has been always trying to portrait minorities as something bad. we can see that in some news channels all the reporters are white and they don´t have someone from different race or ethnicity. Media coverage has a huge impact in society, since people are being influenced by that. Some people are taking decisions based on media coverage and sometimes these decisions are not positive for some minorities. In some of the clips, we can see that when news involves someone from a different race, mainly black or Latino, the news is always covering a crime committed by these races or any violent situation and the funny thing is that the news is covered by a white person; this demonstrates that the coverage wants to transmit to the viewer that the white race is always the good one and the other races are the bad ones.
ReplyDeleteThe two most striking videos for me were the Rodney King verdict, and the media's coverage of events like the Ferguson case. First, the Rodney King video was just terribly sad. I never followed the case, as it happened a couple years before I was born, but it was so demoralizing to hear the testimonies of the people on the jury saying that they would have voted the same way regardless of race - I in no way believe that is true. At the very least, our judicial process is supposed to be fair and just. Not having a diverse jury in a case where race is going to play such an important role is ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of the Ferguson video, I believe the media acted inappropriately during the coverage, but I don't believe they did anything out of the ordinary. It is the media's job to find stories, learn what they can from them, and convey that to an audience in the most non-biased way possible. The sad fact is that this doesn't happen. News stations are driven by ratings and viewership while being funded by a thousand different competing sources. Underrepresented minorities will not have the coverage or viewpoints that they deserve, creating a very biased group of opinions toward a trial/news event.
I'm so happy you spoke about the Rodney King Riots! They are such a poignant example of bias media coverage and the tensions between not only majority and minority groups, but also minority vs. minority groups. In my intercultural communication class I watched Twilight L.A., which was a performance piece that was written and performed by Ana Deveare Smith. She interviewed witnesses and people involved in the case and it was so powerful to see a minority woman depicting the horror that ensued because of the Rodney King case and verdict.
DeleteI cannot help but relate what happened in Ferguson to what happened in L.A. I can't speak for everyone my age, but I remember thinking the Ferguson Riots were one of the first of their kind, but to learn about the Rodney King riots that happened for very similar reasons and to see similar media bias repeated just dumbfounded me. You would think that with time, media would change and try to rid themselves of their biases as much as possible, but that hasn't happened. Media literacy is something that I think everyone should be utilizing, especially with our news outlets. I think it's our job as the viewer to become more aware of what we are watching and be more vocal about the way minorities are being unjustly depicted via media.
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ReplyDeleteI believe the media affects racial and ethnic groups much more than we assume. Watching these videos, I think media coverage of racially charged issues has changed, but not substantially. For example, you don’t hear the opinions of any African-American people in regards to the Rodney king beating, but when covering Ferguson, many locals were asked for their opinion and put on TV. Also, movements like black lives matter received substantial media coverage, something that may not have happened on the same scale 30 years ago. As far as bias goes, most of the biases in the clips were consistent with that of the station they were being broadcast on. These biases are fair in my opinion because they go both ways, and viewers can choose to watch whichever bias they prefer.
ReplyDeleteThe media often times fails to objectively report current events. I personally think that the biggest role that the media plays in affecting race and ethnicity is using and furthering stereotypes. Often times the media portrays the known stereotypes of minority groups in a humorous way. Personally I don't believe that the media covers all minorities fairly. The media fails to represent minority groups fairly whether it be lack of coverage or a mainly negative coverage. The unfairness for me can be really seen a comment made by Manuela. She said that in most coverage that we do see of minorities the coverage is usually on a crime that has been committed. The media fails to represent each race equally in day to day coverage. In a perfect world the media covers day to day events without bias but that seems very unlikely. The media needs to do a better job of making things less about race and more about the actual news. If we can make a shift towards the coverage focusing on the event as opposed to race I think that the media would be more informative. As long as race is the focus and not the event itself I think that the media will still be a controversial topic in regards to race and ethnicity.
ReplyDeleteThe news media has always been bias because that is how they attract their audience. I know from what I see to what I read that the media only covers small parts in which they can get attention from the audience. When it comes to race, news media differ from each other due to political view or the audience. Some media coverage's portray races in negative or positive forms. We saw that from the Rodney King to the Ferguson videos in how the media cover certain aspects while racial profiling. Bias is just inedible to take off because it differs from all medias, but it needs to start focusing on actual news rather the persons race. This causes stereotypes and generalizing which is wrong in many ways. The media likes the cause of tension because they use us as their guinea pigs to cause the outrage. Be knowledgeable to what you read or see from the news.
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DeleteI believe that the media plays an enormous role in dictate the way our society runs. In the past, I believe media was bias in the sense of race. Media coverage now tries to enforce that there is no bias remarks made on race, but I believe that most of media coverage now focuses on race and ethnicity.
ReplyDeleteIn the 2008 election, we see the other candidates trying to lower Obama's credibility by using his middle name. Hussein, obviously, would make many relate his backgrounds to the Middle East and profile him as a terrorist - another flaw of our society. Although this strategy did not work, it does show that America has issues with race and that equality is still not prevailing.
Now, the Trayvon Martin case is horrifying in regards to the trail. The way the star witness was treated on the stand is terrifying! Since she has a certain color of skin she cannot understand the DA? Society was disappointed in the star witness because she was not "fit"? Since when does a witness have to uphold a specific race, look, or education?
I believe that media has encouraged people to get their voices heard, but I do believe that it has brought up violence as well. The media coverage has enraged many and once someone see others doing something immoral, they think it is just to do the same thing because it was on the news. I think the media has made an effort to close the option for people to follow colorblind racism, but they still fail. In my opinion, they try to make a statement by being diverse and showing that not acknowledging race is a problem, but it is not effective enough. They continue to tip toe around this issue and it is not resolving anything.
Watching Malcolm X appear on City Desk would make anyone with morals and values uncomfortable. Watching as Malcom X is attacked by the white male hosts about his beliefs, and constantly attempting to alter his views is disheartening to say the least, especially considering this happened in a country that we believe has the ‘best’ freedom. About forty-five years later, watching an identical situation during the coverage of the 2008 Election on CNN should make you feel the same way. Watching as people stated skewed information towards our previous President Obama, with complete non-sense, and the comments that were made had no correlation with Obama’s career and approach to presidency.
ReplyDeleteIronically, news media is a key factor of ignorance with their bias approach and content, specifically with degrading minorities. It is true that the journalists in the Malcolm X video were more direct with their rude approach in an attempt to bring down Malcolm X. It is also safe to say that the approach is not the same anymore. In modern America, it is an issue with news outlets covering only negativity that is perpetrated by an individual or a handful of people, but viewed as an act by an entire population in an attempt ruin the image of that set group, and then using that to blow up the situation. Considering, the world we live in, it is easier to believe one article or news source, instead of digging deeper, doing some research, and having a better understanding from multiple perspectives.
It is obvious that media is a powerful tool in influencing people. It has been for years. I do believe that media has played a big role in showing stereotypes, creating racism about different ethnicities. Media of course could be unfair to some extent. A lot of media source are trying to be unique and differentiate from others, thus creating false information. For example in the video about police officers beating a man. A lot of media will show this as police officers are being violent and not doing their jobs and not protecting the people. Or in the 2008 election when they used Barack Obama middle name Hussein to harm Obama’s campaign and get more voters toward Republican Party. In a perfect world news and political media will only show fair information but there a lot of bias on media I think. And sometimes it hard to believe media today.
ReplyDeleteI found the Malcom X video quite biased. The interviewer continued to grill Malcom X about what his last name was well after the interview had changed subject. He continuously wanted to know what his “real last name” was despite Malcom X having completely valid reasons to keep it to himself. The interviewer seemed to completely ignore or disregard Malcom X’s reasoning for not using his “real last name’.
ReplyDeleteLooking at the extensive coverage of the Ferguson riots, which appears to perpetuate racial stereotypes, I am unsure whether the media was acting with the best interest of the public in mind. Having the same story covered for hours on end, seems to only create more issues, as many of the protest seemed to get worse when a camera was present. The role of the media is not merely to give the audience all available information, but should instead be to interpret and filter the information, weighing the pros and con of their presence and coverage during a major controversial event like Ferguson.
It is very obvious that media has a profound role in the lives of all Americans and information can be skewed depending on what the source of the media is. I took a Law and Political System class my freshman year and a big topic that we discussed is how the Supreme Court has a tendency to be steered into decisions by the pressure of public opinion and media, so calling media the “Fourth Branch of Government” is a very accurate portrayal of its power. In order for Americans to have objective opinions on information talked about in media, it is vital that they are aware of biased sources. To ensure that Americans are aware of this, I believe that we need to make media literacy courses mandatory and that they should be taught early on in children’s education. Better aware and educated American citizens will make for a better country in the long run.
ReplyDeleteAs our earlier readings said, media plays an important role in expressing socially constructed definitions of race. As Wortham said in The NY Times, "Television is still both a barometer of social change and an evolutionary force that can help change cultural attitudes." This role is still true, though it may not be as obvious as it was during previous periods of U.S. history.
ReplyDeleteWhat might be more interesting to look at is the role that different "ideologically-minded" media outlets play in talking about race. For example, it would be interesting to measure how, say, National Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC cover crime. While media outlets do seem to be paying more attention to how they discuss racial matters (to the extent that they are avoided espousing openly racist ideas), they still have problems. According to some of the research we read, they had failed in displaying minorities in roles that aid their humanization, like having them as anchors, experts, or (in the case of TV news) private citizen sources on camera.
Of course, media is not as openly racist as previous generations of media, as can be observed in Rhodes' article.