What About the Hype
In our society today there is one key element that informs the world in many different ways. This element is the media. It comes in many forms such as television, newspapers, magazines etc. Since we are subjected to the media everyday, it can influence how we feel about people. Some influences can be positive and some can be negative. One negative influence that it has is its coverage of African Americans. The media’s coverage of African Americans encourages the majority of white society to have a negative perception of them. Many times in the media whites are not portrayed in such a manner. One of the reasons this occurs is because of the structure in which the news is presented. This reason is shown through the use of language to describe the events involving African Americas that have taken place. The language is often more “brutal” when an African American story is being told. Another is the consistency in which African Americans appear in the media. A third reason is because whites and blacks do not interact as much in society. A final reason a negative image of African Americans is perceived by white society is because the media is always present. It is almost everywhe
Another quote that supports this is when Campbell states, “ Repetitive viewing of negative media portrayals of outgroup members is one way of comparing ingroup (white majority) with outgroup (black majority)” (101). Often times in the media whites are portrayed in the news as high stature figures. Some of these figures are politicians, police officers, very wealthy people, or standouts in society. More situations of these stories about whites are in the media then stories of whites that commit violent acts. Because of the better portrayal of whites in society, they are not as often negatively stereotyped. On the other hand, since blacks are not portrayed like whites in the media they are assessed more negative attributes from the receiver (person who is affected by the media). Fox 56, Channel 7. Lexington, KY 15 Feb.-17 Feb. 2000. Campbell, C. Race, Myth, and the News. Oaks, CA: Sage pub., 1995. 70-101. In The Cincinnati Post on Friday, February 4, 2000, a story involving an African American was on the front page. In big, bold letters the heading read, “Man Accused of Vicious Murder”. The story was of an African American male who robbed an innocent, elderly, white woman in Over the Rhine, a neighborhood in Cincinnati, and then murdered her. Because the words “innocent”, “elderly”, and “white” were used in the article a negative stereotype was attributed to the man. Charles Campbell writes, “In the relaying of controversial news, language plays an important role. If one figure in the story is perceived by readers as being unable to protect themselves, or innocent, then the other figure is extremely looked down upon by the reader” (76). This quote is very significant because it explains how the reader has a more negative feeling towards the black man because of the words that were used to describe the elderly woman. The viewer sees the woman as being “innocent” and unable to do anything about her situation and the black man did not care whatsoever.
Some common words found in the essay are:
African Americans, African American, Charles Campbell, America Africans, Farai Chideya, , african americans, Cole Stories, Michael Jordan, Cincinnati Post, african american, Americans Finally, involving african, media whites, society media, language describe, white society, white majority, negative stereotype, involving african americans, americans perceived white, perceived white, black negative stereotype, perceived white society, white society media,
Approximate Word count = 1670
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
