Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Demography and Mainstream Media

The level of attention a group/person attracts from the media somehow depends
on the ethnicity and status. Americans are obsessed with celebrities and their
Lifestyle. Celebrities attract almost all the attention from the media because that is
what the public is desperate to hear. Mainstream media tends to focus on the
negativity and instability that exists in ethnic communities. The crime rates in minority communities are obviously higher due to higher unemployment rates and the appalling conditions but the media focuses on the crimes that are committed by blacks and Hispanics. The issue of illegal immigration comes up anytime an undocumented worker is arrested for a crime. By doing this, the media encourages animosity and hatred towards immigrants and also instills fear in the public. The hard work that these people are made to do for lower than minimum wages are ignored; instead the media sometimes blames them for the current status of the economy.By constantly showing this to their audience, it enforces stereotypes against minorities. In the video below, ABC news shows the response the public has towards a black man and a white man committing a similar crime.The white offender receives very little confrontation and even makes it away with the bike but the black guy is immediately confronted and the by standers call the police.
 

The middle class and upper middle class tend to also get more attention from the media. Historically crimes that have white middle class a the victims tend to spark a media frenzy. Such cases stay on TV until the case is solved if possible. A very good example is the case of JonBennet Ramsey. The unfortunate murder of this adorable little girl shocked America and received extensive media coverage. Although this case is still unsolved, it still received a great amount of media coverage 10 years after the incident when a mentally unstable man confessed to the murder. John Karr was later released when his DNA did not match the one that was found on the scene.





The media is capable of influencing public opinion. They have the power to tell America what to believe, who to hate and even what to care about. 

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

TELEVISION SHOWS AND DISCRIMINATION



The number of people who use the television as a source of entertainment easily outnumbers the number of people who use it as a primary source of news. The success of a TV station depends heavily on ratings. Television stations with the most ratings have entertainment shows that appeal to a wide spectrum of their audience. Entertainment shows include reality shows, game shows, sitcoms and drama series. Our addiction to shows meaningless shows like Jersey shore, Teen Mom and Real world has made MTV and VH1 the most viewed networks.

Sex sells in America. Advertising moguls have adopted this method to promote products like GODADDY.COM by using almost naked images of famous stars like Danica Patrick.
Using racy images of females to market products widens the gender inequality gap that already exists in society. It also limits the capability of women in society. Moreover shows like The Bachelor and the music videos constantly degrade women by depicting them as sex objects.






There are also shows on TV that promote minority groups as being ignorant, lazy and promiscuous. One thing comes to mind when I think about the Flavor of Love show on VH1, and that is ignorance. Some televisions shows about black people promote buffoonery and illiteracy in the black community. I was a big fan of the Chappelle show but there is no doubts that show was very stereotypical and sometimes even racist. Even though a black comedian hosted the show, the producers and writes of the show regularly supplied him with racial jokes. Despite the shows huge success, Dave Chappelle had enough of the racism he was being made to feed to the public so he walked away from a multimillion-dollar contract. Using a person of color, as a vessel for racial jokes in the media is very common in mainstream media and by doing so, some people find it acceptable to make racial jokes. Others also make judgments about based on the stereotypes they see on TV.


Mainstream media has a huge influence on race relations in this country. Lack of diversity in some parts of the country causes white people in such places to resort to the media for information about minorities. 

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

The Headlines Game


In a world where the newspapers business is declining at an alarming rate, an effective way of getting the public to pick newspapers or clicking on a link is by having a captivating headline. Like most of America, I fall for this technique too. We tend to skip boring and simple headlines that do not grab our attention. The headlines that readers usually skip are the ones that summarize the whole article in the headlines.
This is the type of headline that i would NOT be interested in because I can predict the whole content of the article

On the other hand, we fall for attention seeking headlines that tells a quarter of the story. A story doesn’t have to be necessarily important but a catchy headline will attract a lot of attention. The media is aware of our weaknesses and exploit it in extreme ways by printing such headlines in bold on the front page.
This headline grabs my attention because it tis about a sensitive issue and Jimmy Cater's words were taken out of context  

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this technique because its principle for a business to make profit. The only issue is when there is a bias against some ethnic groups in our society. Outside sports, most of the press time that minorities receive is often for negative acts. The mainstream media concentrates on stories that depicts minorities in a negative way. Progress has definitely been made when it comes to race relations in this country but also we cannot overlook the fact that a solid amount of bigotry and prejudice still exists amongst us. Remnants of the people who opposed the civil rights movement still exist and promote racism and division among people. A typical example of this media bias was very evident in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. The devastation made life conditions merely unbearable therefore both black and whites resorted to looting abandoned grocery stores for food and water. Unfortunately, the media singled out black as looters and white people as finders. Even though America is the most diverse country on this planet, there are certain expectations that are set for minorities in this country. The media plays to these social expectations by demonizing minority groups and by doing so, they maintain the existing social hierarchy. A constant portrayal of a state of instability and chaos among minority groups also promotes prejudice and racism.   
A headline blaming blacks for the increase in social vices and also enforcing stereotypes.