Stereotypes: Reoccurring Issues In News Media

Margaret Mead once stated that “Instead of being presented with stereotypes by age, sex, color, class, or religion, children must have the opportunity to learn that within each range, some people are loathsome and some are delightful.” We should be presented with a view that doesn’t group people together as a whole but instead show both the differences and similarities we share with each other. We should be shown a view that shows that a person can be good or bad no matter their sex, age, color, class, or religion. Social media was created to unite us and give us the ability to connect with those who are far away from us. Instead, it has reinforced negative stereotypes about those who look or think differently from us. The media propagates stereotypes on us in multiple ways and starts to enforce these views on us when we are most impressionable. They start when we’re young and still learning where we stand in the world and what we believe to be right and wrong. Instead of enforcing positive images that would help humanity thrive and prosper, the media is showing stereotypes that are detrimental to our growth as a species.

During the process of producing a television series, the demand for the producers to introduce their characters with only their highlighted traits make it impossible for viewers to gain a deep understanding of the community that the characters represent. One of the stereotypic traits that is usually seen on movies and television shows is societal difference that each race is placed into. Michael Omi in his article In Living Color: Race and American Culture stated that “in contemporary television and film, there is a tendency to present and equate racial minority groups and individuals with specific social problems” (546). There are many films and television shows found today that ground racial minorities into a specific social problems that are related to the color of their skin. It can be inferred from the current popular culture that this stereotype still persists.

Racism isn’t as violent as it was today some people will blindly say that it doesn’t exist anymore but the truth of the matter is that it does. A lot of people believe in racial stereotypes in an article written by Joe Fagin he talks about how Americans and the media have downgraded the Mexican race by mocking their language and calling them aliens it’s the same thing with African Americans popular Stereotypes of African Americans are that we are criminals and people who are only destined to end up in jail if they don’t make it in sports or entertainment. One of the most recent problems occurring today is racism in the media. Stereotyping in television and movies has reached a peak. The media gives children negative views of African American lifestyle. There are T.V. shows that depict African Americans in a way that is not true. There's even a video game about with an African American as the main character and the only thing that he does is kill, rob and have sex with people. The people who stereotype are mainly people who haven't been around African Americans and go by the only thing that they see about African Americans. So therefore, the media is a large part of the part of stereotyping of African Americans. Back When Troy Maxon and August Wilson were growing up Black men were characterized as brutes who were unintelligent and prone to committing crimes such as rape and murder. The representation of others as inferior serves as a purpose in justifying the negative

Harmeen Jones, a former Fox Technician, was fired after filing a complaint to Human Resources of the unfair treatment he was receiving by his colleagues at Fox for being African-American. Jones claims ‘he was subjected to a steady stream of "racist, sexist, and extremely offensive comments,’ against blacks, Muslims, Jews, women and Hispanics” (Shifrel). Unfortunately, not only does the network available to 87 million households make flippant remarks in it’s work environment, but it also promotes racist stereotypes on air. During an episode of The O’Reilly Factor, host Bill O’Reilly made an insulting remark when telling an African-American guest, “Say you 're a cocaine dealer—and you kind of look like one a little bit” (Hall). Stereotyping minority races has existed since the creation of the United States, and continues to be a problem. The privileged social group in society often oppresses minorities, and advertises false statements of the other races. Media, a big contributor to the spread of racial stereotyping that occurs in the United States, often provides viewers with stereotypes that continue to promote racism, and the discouragement of success in a minority group. The media portrays the dominant race in a positive way, while minority groups are depicted in ways that provide people with an invalid reason to feel hatred toward minority groups.

The news is here to inform the public about current events and issues around the world. However, each news station has its own bias towards certain events. Where some news stations are far left and others are far right, the viewers seem to be affected on both sides either way. Nonetheless, the viewers themselves are not completely innocent in this situation. The viewers will watch specific news stations to have their ideas or biases validated. People usually do not like to be challenged, especially after a hards day of work. This group of people consists of adults above the age of thirty. It would be nice to come home and have something to can agree with. The reasoning behind this, people tend to be more fond of news stations that gives them

Everyday people like you or me are affected by media in ways most people are oblivious to. Media shows what they want to show moreover the public is none the wiser. This subconsciously convinces the viewer that what is shown is real and/or the norm. When racial stereotypes are brought into the equation, it can be harmful for one’s self image. With the many forms of media minorities have to face certain stereotypes depending on the circumstance.

Throughout this class I did not know what to expect or what I could gain from it, after the groups we have had I walked out of class each day more informed than when I came in. I absolutely feel that I have changed my entire outlook on the media bias and stereotypes. I felt that before this class I was unaware of how negative these stereotypes and portrayals really were. Almost if I was being selfish for being unaware, because I felt some of these stereotypes or media bias did not affect me. Now that I reflect on what I was thinking at the time, I know better, I especially know that as a woman and person of color, the media and stereotypes equally target us, maybe women more. In this paper, I will reflect on three past groups such as

Media has recently become more a part of our lives as ever before. Between social media accounts, newspapers and magazines, television and also movies, the media is growing every day. Every day many of Americans look towards the media for news, entertainment, and many other things. Overtime the outlook of race of many Americans have changed since the segregation laws were disbanded. Since this magazine has already been accused of being a “racist” magazine, Vanity Fair needs to know why showing diversity in their magazine-especially on the cover-will have a positive outcome.

“America” is closely intertwined with the idea of freedom, the right to determine what we yearn to be, and contented people. Moreover, the standard of living in America is higher than developing countries such as India (D’Souza 340). Even, the poorest American has a television, microwave, and car (D’Souza 340). If we consider these facts, Americans should be among the most delighted people in the world. However, Americans are not as joyful as we thought they are, as a result of not being truly free, even though they are not being oppressed (Samuelson 24). Their freedom is limited by a set of unwritten laws, appointed by their community. This unwritten law is commonly called “stereotypes”, which looming around their social lives around their society.

Turn on CNN or Fox and Bias pounds you over the head. They each have their own talking heads or political correspondents to decry their “ expert opinions”. Since the advent of the 24 hour news cycle back during the Gulf War, when CNN was launched, the”news- junkie “ was born. News became less of a journalistic report of the facts about what was happening in the world and more about infotainment, it became more biased when Fox news came along and all of the other stations. Media has always been slightly biased according to the owner or publisher of the journal or the media source. The target audience of Fox news is a very conservative group, the aim is to entice them to be infuriated by the opinion of the host and guest. Occasionally a bit of truth is broadcast.. The exact same can be said for the audience of Mother Jones, MSNBC, and other forms of media. The headline grabbing story I have chosen is very important as it is a matter of National Security.

The media does portray Latinos and other underrepresented groups in ways that lead to stereotypes. These stereotypes are portrayed in the news, films, and multiple television shows. These stereotypes are often damaging to the underrepresented group because of literal meaning people will take the stereotype. Television shows like Family Guy uses stereotypes or offensive terms in a joking matter, but these joking matters are viewed by various amount of people. For example, in Family guy there is a very popular Mexican maid by the name of Consuela. Consuela does not know proper English, demands cleaning supplies, has a son in jail, and steals. Do not worry for those who are not Mexican and feel left out; Family Guy harshly portrays basically

There have been many studies done on minority stereotypes, however, there has not been enough focusing on the portrayal of minorities in the news. With the majority of Americans using local TV or newspapers as their source of information (Journalism.org, 2011) we must look at how citizen’s perceptions of themselves and others are influenced by the news. To define news framing, we will take Lecheler, Keer, Shuck, and Hänggli’s definition; “a process by which certain facets of social reality are emphasized by the news media, while others are pushed into the background” (2015, p. 341). Language as well as imagery can be a powerful tool in framing a story to guide an audience to believe it the way the journalist wants them to.

I was appalled by the negative way that young people have been perceived by media and think the tone and the despicable words used by media in articles ,even words used in the headline, are totally repugnant and abominable. The article which is headlined “Hoodies, louts, scum’: how media demonises teenagers” provides an insight to how media scrutinizes teenage boys mainly, how much people antipathy teenagers that all media are able to say about them are negative implements and present figures that show amount of stories that are subjected on the negative impact teenagers having london (national and regional) in the past year.

The media, whether adverts, movies, or music videos, most certainly play a compelling and considerable aspect in forming our culture and the subsequent perceptions of others. Cultural stereotypes are often exemplified and strengthened through the media and the tendency is to disparage and pervert segments of the population. In the same way, what is portrayed in the media models our view and perceptions of people, which are often distorted and limited and, unfortunately, these perceptions also shape our perceptions of self, as well as how we believe others perceive us. This is further reinforced by cultural stereotypes, portrayed in the media, as they emphasize a distorted and limited view and perception of self, as well as how we believe others perceive us, and through the constant use of cultural stereotypes, this further reinforces prejudices about race, ethnicity, and gender.

he United States has claimed for years to be a melting pot, where race or various preferences do not define our role in society. Most everyday people do not even realize or notice the amount of stereotyping that occurs in mass media. It is important to understand the different types of discrimination marginalized groups face. Stereotypes can affect everyone, whether it is based on their race, gender, or sexual preference. Media makers could easily find ways to not discriminate against people, but perhaps this would make that specific media outlet less popularly attended to.