Los Angeles – One year after the historic election of President Obama, journalists of color see the election as a positive turning point in U.S. race relations but say mainstream media has missed a key opportunity to improve race relations, according to a new survey of multicultural journalists.
The 2010 Journalism in Color Survey on “Race and the Media” – commissioned by
theLoop21.com, a leading African-American Web site for economic and political news, in collaboration with UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc., a strategic alliance advocating fair and accurate news coverage about people of color – was designed to provide insights into racial news coverage in the “Age of Obama.”
For the second consecutive year, the vast majority of respondents (95 percent) indicated that mainstream media has not adequately covered stories regarding racial issues in a multiracial society. They said the “lack of newsroom diversity” and “lack of understanding by editors/producers” hurts coverage.
One in seven journalists surveyed said coverage of racial issues by the mainstream media had improved U.S. race relations, while nearly twice as many believed it had worsened race relations. And, despite much recent discussion of a post-racial society, journalists indicated that racial coverage by the mainstream media was just as likely to be detrimental as helpful.
A majority of respondents indicated that while “racial and cultural issues are more likely to be covered” the overwhelming majority do not think that “journalists of color cover more high profile stories,” or that additional coverage translates into creating opportunities for newsroom advancement for journalists of color. Similar views applied to women and gender issues.
“The persistent lack of confidence in the journalism industry is startling,” said Darrell L. Williams, Ph.D., and publisher of theloop21.com. “At this critical juncture in U.S. race relations, there is a need for discussion of standards for unbiased racial coverage. What decision-makers in media choose to report, how they report it, and what they choose to ignore affects racial perceptions.” William added, “Although the survey answers questions regarding the views of journalists of color, more importantly it highlights opportunities for change and further study.”
David C. Wilson, Ph.D., a political scientist specializing in public opinion and political psychology, noted the nation’s trust and confidence in the media “has been slipping dramatically since the 1970s,” and that “there’s pretty much a consensus that the media is out of touch with average Americans.”
“Media images and language” can prime subtle thoughts and beliefs related to stereotypes that can lead to bias and support faulty beliefs,” he said.
Greater sensitivity through diversity of ideas among producers and editors is the key. “Diversity is not about ‘sheer numbers,’ it’s about highlighting the different takes on different issues,” said Wilson.
Most trustworthy news outlets The survey also asked journalists of color to rate news outlets and select which types of media, in regards to objectivity and trust, provide “fair and unbiased reporting” of racial and cultural issues.
CNN was news outlet journalists of color trusted most to provide “fair and unbiased reporting on racial and cultural the issues” with 69 percent indicating that they “somewhat trust” or “highly trust.” FOX was the least trusted with only 3 percent indicating that they “somewhat trust” or “highly trust” the news network. Ninety-one percent distrusted FOX to provide “fair and unbiased reporting on racial and cultural issues.”
Most trustworthy types of media
Public Radio, meanwhile, was the media outlets trusted most by multicultural journalists to provide “fair and unbiased reporting on racial and cultural issues” with 80 percent of journalists of color surveyed indicating that they “somewhat trust” or “highly trust.” Cable news (31 percent) and Internet bloggers (10 percent) were least trusted to provide “fair and unbiased reporting on racial and cultural issues.”
To gain a broader perspective on how media impacts racial perceptions, theLoop21.com is collaborating with Radio One, NewsOne.com, and TV One’s “Washington Watch with Roland Martin” to poll African-Americans and people of color nationwide from February 24 – March 5th. The “Truth in Media” poll further explores how minority audiences view the media’s coverage of racial issues in the Age of Obama.
To vote in the “Truth in Media” poll go to
http://www.theloop21.com/truthinmedia or
www.theLoop21.com.
The “2010 Journalism in Color” survey was commissioned by TheLoop21.com for members of the alliance partners of UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc., to evaluate the attitudes of journalists of color regarding their experiences in mainstream media during one of the most significant presidential campaigns in American history.
Journalists were surveyed on a variety of topics, including the quality of coverage of issues affecting African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders and Native Americans following the 2008 Presidential campaign as well as their professional experiences in mainstream media, perception of opportunities for advancement in their news organizations and suggestions to improve and increase coverage of issues that are important to people of color.
