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The most critical aspects of media performance with regards to race and
ethnicity are issues that relate to the quality of its representation of the
lives of people of color. Accuracy and diversity are aspects of media
performance that will allow for a careful evaluation of how it represents people
of color. Evaluating media performance is important because of the utilization
and reliance on the mass media for much of society's reflexive monitoring and
evaluation of reality. The performance of mass media is important in regards to
race and ethnicity because the mass media are the primary source of indirect or
mediated experiences that reinforce racial attitudes and beliefs that are
integrated into cognitive structures (Gandy, 1998). Thus, mass media can be
viewed as places where reality is constructed and racism may be reproduced.
Accuracy Accuracy is an important aspect of media performance to consider in
assessing the quality of its representation of the lives of people of color
because of its assumed consequences of developing self-image and personal
identity and its reflection of social reality that informs social policy (Gandy
1998). Shan and Thorton (1994) state that previous research of minority groups
has shown that minorities are sometimes depicted as being violent, primitive,
and politically unsophisticated. Furthermore, they postulate that certain types
of behaviors among minorities may be understood by whites as pathological or
deviant because of how the news media represent them. This representation is
inaccurate because it ignores historical context and structural explanations for
social trends.
In addition, Shan and Thorton state that newsmagazines reproduce
racism by perpetuating a racial hierarchy carried out by mainly whites and
consumed by mainly whites that positioned blacks at the bottom. Entman (1990)
found that local news stimulated the production of modern racism. Violent crimes
committed by blacks was the largest category of local news. Of the eight times
in which blacks were subjects of lead stories, six described violent crimes. In
addition, blacks were shown as being more dangerous than whites. Entman states
that accused blacks were usually illustrated by glowering mug shots or by
footage of them being led around in handcuffs, their arms held by uniformed
white policemen. Salwen and Soruco (1997) state that images of Mexicans in the
press reflect racial stereotypes.
The researchers point out examples in US press
where Mexicans were labeled as wetbacks and associated with causing destruction
by introducing one of the world's most destructive insect pest. Gandy (1998)
states that blacks are often portrayed as violent criminals. If they are
portrayed in human-interest stories, these stories rely upon negative
stereotypes. Like Entman and Gandy finding that minorities (blacks) experience
inaccurate portrayals of being violent, Salwen and Soruco also report that
Hispanics were framed in crime stories more frequently. Astroff (1989) conclude
that mass media tends to reproduce or participate in the reproduction of
inaccurate representations, stereotypes, of Latinos. US Latinos were transformed
into Spanish Gold through the redefinition of (not the elimination of)
traditional stereotypes. These stereotypes of Latinos were reinterpreted for the
use of explanations of consumer behavior yet there was not any significant
change, moving to a more accurate depiction, in the representation of Latinos in
mainstream media.
Diversity The concept of diversity is a multidimensional one.
The FCC sought to promote diversity under two headings: one of maximizing
consumer choice; the other of serving the public interest by ensuring an
appropriate range of service from broadcasting and fairness in giving access and
attention to minority groups. Diversity of program content, accessible to all
segments of the audience, is necessary to insure quality representation of the
lives of people of color. One of the goals of the media should be to represent
or reflect the prevailing differences of culture, opinion, and social conditions
of the population as a whole. The degree of correspondence between the diversity
of the society and the diversity of media content is the key to assessing media
performance. Diversity must be at the media content level and at the media
system level and must promote racial proportionality and representation.
Entman
(1990) demonstrated that blacks were misrepresented in local news coverage.
So-called bad news was often thought more newsworthy than good news and ethnic
minority members were differentially more likely to identified in negative
contexts. Salwen and Soruco (1997) report that, as of 1990, Hispanics did not
receive proportional coverage in the news even though they accounted for 9 per
cent of the US population. Also, statistics show that blacks have 2 per cent of
roles in magazine content, and are often depicted in lower status occupations or
criminal roles. Gandy (1998) state that the news coverage of race in the US is
generally limited to the coverage of crimes involving violence and that minority
groups are quoted less often and less extensively in US press. These studies and
findings demonstrate how minorities' images as being violent criminals are
perpetuated and how negative images of minorities are the current themes in mass
media.
Accepting that the representation of the lives of people of color is not
diverse because minorities are often viewed as criminals and in stereotypical
contexts, it is no surprise that the media system level is also not diverse.
Minority ownership of commercial broadcast stations account for only 3 per cent.
Black managers in newspapers account for only 6 per cent (Hispanic only 3 per
cent). And black managers in motion pictures account for less than 5 per cent
(Hispanics less than 6 per cent). These statistics are depressing considering
that there is solid evidence of a positive relationship between minority
ownership and minority diversity in the workplace (Gandy, 1998). Obstacles There
is evidence that the media operate under conditions of considerable pressure and
constraint (Astroff, 1989; Brooks, 1995; Rodriguez, 1996).
The media are often
at the receiving end of a number of sources of power influences. These
influences may range from traditions of past performance to pressures of
competition. A strong awareness of, and sensitivity to, external pressures and
demands is reported in many accounts of the media at work (Rodriguez, 1996; Astroff, 1989). These accounts make it clear that others often shape media
performance. Rodriguez analyzed the nightly national newscast of the largest
Spanish language television network in the US, Noticiero Univision, as an
interaction between demands of the commercial enterprise that can enable media
to meet performance goals. He concludes that professional and cultural demands
can be integrated into the commercial profit motive, resulting in an
audience-centered, objective, ethnic minority national newscast (p76).
But Astroff's (1989) findings differ from what Rodriguez concluded about Noticiero
Univision. Astroff found that existing stereotypes of marginalized groups
constrain and shape market recognition of minorities, accurate portrayal, and
diversity of characterization. Because media's product is a public rather than a
private good and is exposed to immediate public assessment, the quality of the
media's product should be subject to much more scrutiny than other consumer
products. The media are the primary source of indirect or mediated experiences
that shape, reinforce, or eliminate racial attitudes and beliefs. But, the mass
media is a business and thus is under business constraints with regard to
performance. Commercial media have to be as efficient in their use of resources
and financial returns as other businesses. But do to the nature of their
business, media performance must be assessed by criteria which is much more
demanding than normal business criteria.
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