Examine The Ways In Which
Ethnicity Is Presented In The Media
In the media today ethnic minorities can be presented in a variety of ways. They can be presented as criminals, as a threat, as abnormal, as unimportant and as victim. It can potentially be very dangerous "pigeon holing" ethnics like this and it can have a significantly bad affect on the whole of society in general.
Ethnic minorities, particularly people of black origin are often portrayed in the media as criminals or linked in with crime. Van Dijk conducted a content analysis of tens of thousands of news items across the world over several decades. He found that black crime and violence are one of the most frequent issues in ethnic coverage. Black people, particularly Afro Caribbeans tend to be portrayed, especially in the tabloids as criminals. Stuart Hall suggests that ethnic groups are often defined in the British Media as social problems, as criminals around which we often find moral panics constructed. In his view the press are responsible for creating racist images such as the "black mugger" frequently used in the 1970's.
Although these studies do produce some firm evidence that the British press may be racist, recent developments have made them appear somewhat dated. Recently, mainly since the Stephen Lawrence case (perhaps the most pivotal case ever in race relations) and the police admitting racism does occur within the police force people have argued that editors of certain tabloids have swayed to presenting blacks in a more favourable light than that of the 1970s when the studies took place.
For example the death of Daminola Taylor received mass media coverage being on the front cover of every major newspaper. However, when it was proven that black people had been the attackers instead of a group of "Racist white thugs" as first assumed, the story suddenly found its way off the front cover.
Ethnicity Is Presented In The Media
In the media today ethnic minorities can be presented in a variety of ways. They can be presented as criminals, as a threat, as abnormal, as unimportant and as victim. It can potentially be very dangerous "pigeon holing" ethnics like this and it can have a significantly bad affect on the whole of society in general.
Ethnic minorities, particularly people of black origin are often portrayed in the media as criminals or linked in with crime. Van Dijk conducted a content analysis of tens of thousands of news items across the world over several decades. He found that black crime and violence are one of the most frequent issues in ethnic coverage. Black people, particularly Afro Caribbeans tend to be portrayed, especially in the tabloids as criminals. Stuart Hall suggests that ethnic groups are often defined in the British Media as social problems, as criminals around which we often find moral panics constructed. In his view the press are responsible for creating racist images such as the "black mugger" frequently used in the 1970's.
Although these studies do produce some firm evidence that the British press may be racist, recent developments have made them appear somewhat dated. Recently, mainly since the Stephen Lawrence case (perhaps the most pivotal case ever in race relations) and the police admitting racism does occur within the police force people have argued that editors of certain tabloids have swayed to presenting blacks in a more favourable light than that of the 1970s when the studies took place.
For example the death of Daminola Taylor received mass media coverage being on the front cover of every major newspaper. However, when it was proven that black people had been the attackers instead of a group of "Racist white thugs" as first assumed, the story suddenly found its way off the front cover.
