The Media: Reinforcing Racial Stereotypes? Chapter 11

Introduction Mass media: Sources of information, including print, radio, television, and the Internet, that reach a large number of people Framing: The media’s ability to shape how viewers interpret political events and issues Agenda setting: The media’s power to influence the importance that the public places on issues

A History of Media and Politics Print media Penny press Abolitionism See “Our Voices: The Liberator and Abolitionism” Yellow journalism Parallel press

A History of Media and Politics Broadcast radio and television 1906: Invention of radio broadcasting Frequent radio addresses from President Franklin Roosevelt 1950s: Increase in political journalism in television following the successful use of this medium by presidential candidate Dwight Eisenhower 1960s: Television brought the civil rights movement into reality for many Americans

A History of Media and Politics Cable and satellite Advent of news networks and the 24/7 news media cycle CNN, C-SPAN, Fox News, MSNBC Satire: Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report 2010 Rally to Restore Sanity The Daily Show with Trevor Noah and The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore

A History of Media and Politics The Internet and Social Media Can include less reliable sources of information Blogs Newspapers (including parallel press) Social networking media Black Lives Matter Donald Trump’s use of Twitter in presidential campaign

The Media Industry Diversity Racial and ethnic diversity in the media industry has increased over time, although it has decreased more recently

Minority Group Presence in Broadcast Television Workforce, 2000 and 2016

Minority Group Presence in Broadcast Radio Workforce, 2000 and 2016

Minority Group Presence as Broadcast Television News Directors, 2000 and 2012

Minority Group Presence as Broadcast Radio News Directors, 2000 and 2016

The Media Industry The media business Decline of newspapers Large media holding companies work to buy newspapers, as well as radio and television stations Government relaxed rules to allow companies to own more than one media outlet in a specific media market Six major corporations own the vast majority of U.S. media outlets

The Media Industry Media personnel Professional journalists and editors Eighteenth- and nineteenth-century journalists often not highly educated or highly intellectual Many journalists now are above average in terms of education, income, and socioeconomic status Many journalists and columnists oscillate between working for the press and working in politics

The Media Industry Media personnel (cont.) Bias Lack of diversity Journalists generally attempt to keep personal and political biases out of their reporting Some media outlets are more likely than others to report with a conservative or liberal bias One of the largest forms of reporting bias exists because of the need to increase sales and ratings Lack of diversity Gender; race and ethnicity

Percentage of Minorities Employed by Daily Newspapers

Press Coverage of Politics and Government Officials and Institutions Reporting of elections In addition to facts, media coverage increasingly includes commentary Influence elections through priming The press determines the degree and type of coverage candidates receive Minority candidates are less likely to receive the same degree of favorable coverage as White candidates

Press Coverage of Politics and Government Officials and Institutions Coverage of government officials and institutions White House press corps Press secretary No minority press secretaries Two female press secretaries Press conferences Media bias See “Evaluating Equality: Racial Bias in the Press Coverage of Hurricane Katrina?”

Press Coverage of Politics and Government Officials and Institutions Government regulation First Amendment protections of the press Prior restraint New York Times v. United States (1971) Federal Communications Commissions (FCC)