Media Racism In Media

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Racism in Media: Perceptions and Interpretations of Crime Based on Race
Media plays a large role in public perceptions. People depend on media to inform them of events they are not present for. However, this poses a problem. Events often become skewed to one side or the other based on race, media bias, etc. The way things are reported has a drastic effect on how the public views the event. One large issue with media currently is how people are portrayed based on their race. One particular study, Voorhees, Vick, and Perkins (2007) discussed news coverage of Hurricane Katrina, and how minorities were portrayed. In their article, they discuss how images of African-Americans, as well as Caucasians taking supplies and other items they needed were circulating media. However, the African-Americans were interpreted in the news as “looting,” while the Caucasians were interpreted as …show more content…

(Voorhees, C.C.W., Vick, J., & Perkins, D.D., 2007) In this study, the researchers found that the news reporters painted African Americans and Caucasians in very different lights. For example, images/videos were only shown of same race helping same race or of whites helping blacks, but never of blacks helping whites. (Voorhees, C.C.W., Vick, J., & Perkins, D.D.) Voorhees, Vick, and Perkins also mentioned how there were images of African Americans carrying supplies out of buildings that were depicted as “looters,” as well as very similar images of Caucasians doing the same exact thing except they were labeled as “finding supplies.” These differences in the portrayal of African Americans and Caucasians are important to this study because they help identify that there is an issue with news coverage pertaining to race. This research project seeks to further examine this issue and the misrepresentation of African Americans in media and to understand why this particular phenomenon is

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