User:AestheticFriends/Sandbox

Minority Representation In Media

Minority representation in the media has long been a topic of debate. Representation refers to the construction in any medium of aspects of ‘reality’ such as people, places, objects, events, cultural identities and other abstract concepts. Such representations may be in speech or writing as well as still or moving pictures. Since the civil rights movement, the amount of minorities portrayed in newspapers, television, and other forms of media have been slowly rising. It is reported that 37% of the American population is made up of minorities but it is underrepresented in media. One of the main concerns of critics is how poverty and crime are characterized. Not only do many see the amount of representation as a problem but also the amount of minorities working in the media industry. A report in 2007 showed that blacks, Latinos, Asians, and Native Americans made up only 13.65% of American newsrooms. A goal set by the American Society of News Editors in 1978 was to have the proportion of minorities in the workforce the same as their proportion to the American population. The underrepresented is also present in the ownership of media. A report by the Free Press entitled "Off The Dial" reports Latinos own 2.9% of all commercial broadcast radio stations, African-Americans own only 3.4%, and Asians own less than 1%. Since local news media may be the primary sources of learning for many adults, they play a vital part in policy debates regarding civil rights, the public’s general knowledge about minority communities, and larger understandings of the world.