News:
Jobs
1998
Journalists Afr.American 5.3%
Hispanic 3.5
Asian Amer. 3.3
Native Amer. <1.0
40% daily papers have no minority employees.
Race is not a minority issue. It's the most important domestic issue this country faces. Gerald Boyd, deputy managing editor, The New York Times
Hutchins Commission charge: "the projection of a representative picture of the constituent groups in society."
Minority percent of total population: 25%
1998 Percent of print journalists in 1978: 11%
1998 Percent of print journalists in 1998: 11%
Percent broadcast journalists in 1978: 16%
1998 Percent of print journalists in 1998: 19%
Robert Entman- "modern racism" has replaced traditional racism in news.
Content-portrayals.
Despite the efforts of well meaning journalists, white and minority, the content of news continues to distort our understanding of race issues because the content is:
1) decided largely by white news managers
2) uses a white male frame of the world
3) is written for an audience presumed to be white.
(Source: Guide to Research on Race and News, p.20).
Criticisms:
* Stories do not show minorities in context.
* Too much focus on atypical behavior, both good and bad, on crisis, or, on the otherhand, of "colorful" festivals, holidays and other "exotic" aspects of non-majority life.
* Too much focus on entertainment figures and on minorities who are "firsts" in their disciplines.
* Not enough coverage showing minority people participating in the day-to-day life of their communities.
On the bright side:
* Some newsrooms are going out of their way to make sure that stories reflect their communities as a whole.
* There's a much better understanding of the need to do a better job of covering minorities.
* Some news organizations are putting together internal monitoring committees to periodically take a closer look at minority coverage and to create awareness for the need to get diverse coverage.
Improvements seen?
* More coverage, overall, of minorities.
* Much more newsroom discussion about coverage, especially in larger markets with diverse populations.
* Less generalization and more reflection of the differing opinions and different textures in the community.
* More inclusion of minorities in some of the regular everyday stories--although it's not consistent.
* Initiatives to improve minority coverage.