The Portrayal Of Race On The Media

Our modern society surrounds itself today with the media. One may think the media only broadcasts through the television, but there are many sources such as the newspaper, social medias, apps, cell phones etc. Technology is the way of the world now, and how we as humans rely on getting our most up to date information. The media has a vast influence on the ways minorities are viewed by our culture. The media sets the tone for the morals, values, and images for society. Minority groups are defined as “a subordinate group whose members have significantly less control or power over their own lives than do the members of a dominant or majority group”(Schaefer, 2008, p. 7).

Shameless is a Golden-Globe nominated show with a white dominated cast. One of the siblings on the show is black, but is identified as a White male contrary to the character’s skin tone. “When it comes to representations of Blacks on television, the 1980s can be seen as a decade of elevated inclusion both in terms of the quantity and quality of roles -- which remains the norm today. (Tukachinsky, Mastro, & Yarchi, 2015). Over the years, we will see more shows gearing their audiences to the black community. Producers add in a few social issues to reel viewers in, but the fact remains the same that a prime time heavy hitting shows, will most likely have less than 20% of their cast of African descent. In consonance with researchers, blacks currently constitute between 14-17 percent of the prime-time population. (Tukachinsky, Mastro, & Yarchi, 2015). The lack of representation in the media can lead to some interpreting that the Caucasian race is the superior race, and in retrospect, can influence the attitudes and beliefs of viewers. Prior research has shown that exposure to counter stereotypic exemplars in the media can have a positive effect on inter-group relations. (Scharrer, & Ramasubramanian, 2015) In order to reduce the misrepresentation from taking over the media, we must depict a positive image on the lives of minorities and portray them as successful, thriving human beings. By

Race in the media is a very sensitive issue now a days. When it comes to minorities we can still see that the media portrays us in a bad light. The image of blacks in the American media has changed over the past two decades with the civil rights movement, changes in attitudes towards minority groups, and increased sensitivity on the part of those who and project these images. An examination of the image of Blacks in the articles and advertisements to show attitudes subtly represented, and these attitudes can be linked to historical and social realities of the time.

"White man kills child.""Black woman caught stealing." Race is often misused in the media and in everyday life. Race in the media is always stated clearly when informing about social and political events, and has a tendency to bias peoples perspectives. I believe this empowerment of race is a huge problem in our society.

Reality television contains fictional aspects that allow producers to manipulate situations that appear to be “real” on screen. In order to keep their characters interesting and easily recognizable throughout the season, a show must clearly establish heroes, villains and supporting characters to keep their audience coming back for more (Tyree, 2011, p. 395). This involves the heavy use of racial stereotypes in their shows because it allows for quick character development as well as cheap entertainment. The way a particular race or culture is represented on reality television can adversely affect the way society views that

Popular culture is defined as “a composite of all the values, ideas, symbols, material goods, processes, and understandings that arise from mass media” (Atkins 131). It is well-known to the public and reinforces the way people see they world, including aspects such as race, ethnicity, and gender. According to Omi, popular culture “deals with the symbolic realm of social life, the images which it creates, represents, and disseminates contribute to the overall racial climate” (540). The individuals or groups belong to a specific race can be perceived based on their behavior portrayed by the mass media, instead of being recognized for who they truly are. Such effect created by the popular culture contributes to what is known as “racial stereotype”, which is “beliefs about differences in behavior associated with racial differences” (Jones 982).

The media sets the tone for the morals, values, and images of our culture. Many people in this country, some of whom have never encountered black people, believe that the degrading stereotypes of blacks are based on reality and not fiction. Everything they believe about blacks is determined by what they see on television. After over a century of movie making, these horrible stereotypes continue to plague us today, and until negative images of blacks are extinguished from the media, blacks will be regarded as second-class

My group analyzed how African Americans are being portrayed in the media using multiple media sources, but we mainly analyzed television, movies and videos (YouTube segments). As a whole it was determined that there is a negative portrayal of this race in these media sources, and often times it is covered up with the use of comedy. According to the findings of my group members, African American in the news and on criminal shows are usually assumed to be guilty before proving to be innocent, instead of innocent until proven guilty like it should be and there is a lot of negative information reported. For me I was surprised that there wasn't any news stories about African Americans the day I took notes, but I also noticed that there weren't

Why the Medias Role in Issues of Race and Ethnicity Should be in the Spotlight by Dana Mastro explores the effects of portrayal of race in the media. It highlights the issue of misrepresentation of the media on race; which in turn affects real life interactions between people based on preconceived assumptions that the media creates. This journal supports the point of stereotypes in the media enforcing social inequalities in the forms of prejudice and racialization.

This essay will seek to analyse the way in which the US social and cultural context of race is reflected in contemporary American television. Focusing on the US drama Orange Is the New Black (Netflix, 2013) as a case study, I will seek to explore how American societies’ racial ideologies are still prominent throughout American TV, although 36% of the US population consist of ethnic minority (US Census, 2010). Orange Is the New Black has been “acclaimed for its portrayal of a diverse array of Black, transgender, Latina, working-class, and immigrant characters” (Charlton, 2013). However on release, critics panned the first season when racial stereotypes were negatively performed and reinforced by characters on the show. These two contrasting

Evidently, the impact of racism affects us individually and the social construction of our reality, because eventually, it enters our institutions and our society. However, racism ultimately stems from social discrimination and prejudice, and a major part of this is fostered through the mass media. Essentially, the media plays a critical role, as it portrays an image of who we are and what we are about, and as visual and social learners, this reflects a worldview we familiarize ourselves with. According to studies, the media perpetuates certain ways we should identify things, and usually, this emphasizes that the White race is the dominant race. This demonstrates what is accepted within the dominant ideology, thus creating barriers and inequality.

Viewers are repeatedly exposed to certain portrayals of an ethnic group, and may develop corresponding beliefs about that group. Taylor and Stern (1997) give the example, if viewers see Asian-Americans playing roles of technicians or mathematicians on television, they may learn to believe that Asian-Americans excel at math. The same hold true with other minorities. If the public is constantly exposed to minorities portrayed in a negative or stereotypical manner, those traits will ultimately be reinforced in the minds of the viewer – especially if the viewer does not have anything to negate those images.

“Media stereotypes are inevitable, especially in the advertising, entertainment and news industries, which need as wide an audience as possible to quickly understand information. Stereotypes act like codes that give audiences a quick, common understanding of a person or group of people—usually relating to their class, ethnicity or race, gender, sexual orientation, social role or occupation.”

Another problem is these television shows may be the only interaction an audience may have with a particular race or ethnic group. This primarily affects children. Young children are extremely easy to influence and spend hours in front of the television. When children are exposed to only one race, they develop prejudices and bias towards other ethnicities. This misrepresentation of races of television shows may cause children to become close minded and prejudiced.

People constantly try to gain direction and insight from their evaluations of other people. One such way they do so is through stereotypes. Stereotypes are cognitive constructs involving an individual’s half-truths and distorted realities knowledge, expectations, and beliefs about human groups. As such, racial stereotypes are constructed beliefs that all members of the same race share certain specific characteristics. In America, the media and Hollywood play an integral role in entrenching and dispelling these stereotypes. However, Hollywood and the media create characters according to stereotypes to attract an audience, from which the viewers can reflect on and laugh at the stereotypes recognizable within American society. This paper seeks to discuss the common stereotypes in American society and how the media and Hollywood promotes those stereotypes and their impacts.