Medias Bias Against Minorities essays

Medias Bias Against Minorities essays Todays media is biased toward minorities. Everyday it is easy to see that racial and ethnic stereotypes still dominate much of reporting today. On television shows and film, African-Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans and Native Americans are also shown in stereotypical ways. This media coverage perpetuates racism and increases the hardships that minorities may face. In the news African Americans are portrayed as criminals. The news selectively covers murders and drug busts, but only acknowledges black achievements as a special occasion. News companies make it seem normal for blacks to be criminal; while black achievements are rare flukes. An example of this is nearly every year, there is a story of a poor, black high school senior who overcame living in a poor neighborhood to graduate and attend college. Granted, this is a great achievement, but it happens more than the media portrays. This selective coverage creates connotations of lower achievement for urban blacks. In movies blacks are portrayed as thugs and criminals, and when not portrayed as such, they are used for comedic effect in the fish out of water sense. They will place a black man in a movie surrounded by white people and make him stand out as not belonging for the sake of comedy. Latinos are portrayed similarly in the news. In other media, they are portrayed as lazy and/or criminal. Asians on the other hand face stereotypes of being nerds. They are portrayed as being geniuses with no character. This leads to stereotypes such as all Chinese people are good at math etc. One movie that gives a clear look into Asian American youth is Better Luck Tomorrow, a film that explores and dispels stereotypes of Asian Americans. Native Americans are portrayed negatively in the media as well. This can be seen primarily in sports mascots, and Westerns. ...