Throw Away the Script: How Media Bias Is Killing Black America

2015/06/02 –Ā Media injustice, which leads to both the erasure and criminalization of marginalized communities, has had dire consequences for both the psyches and lived experiences of black people in the United States since at least the 18th century, when newspapersĀ ran lost-and-found adsĀ for runaway slaves.

InĀ 1964Ā it compelled Malcolm X to stand before a crowd in New York Cityā€™s Audubon Ballroom, where he would be assassinated less than one year later, and make it plain as only he could:

ā€œThis is the press, an irresponsible press,ā€ he said. ā€œIt will make the criminal look like heā€™s the victim and make the victim look like heā€™s the criminal. If you arenā€™t careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.ā€

Fifty years later, these words are just as true now as they were then. What has not been fully addressed, however, is whether the press deliberately supports a white supremacist agenda, as some people believe, or has mediaā€™s complicity mutated into something less intentional but equally dangerousā€”perhaps even more so.

Many studies have tackledĀ implicit racial biasĀ inĀ law enforcement,Ā healthĀ careĀ and theĀ legal field. In recent years, the phrase has become a buzzword used toĀ broadly frame bigotry and racismĀ as something so entrenched that some people arenā€™t aware that they subconsciously harbor racist feelings, associating black skin with negative behavior. Put simply, their ā€œconditioning has been conditioned,ā€ and marginalized groups are often left to pick up the pieces in the wake of brutality and/or neglect by those in positions of power, trust and influence.

There are also studies, such as ā€œNot to Be Trustedā€Ā (pdf), a news-accuracy report card compiled by civil rights organizationColorOfChange.org, which tacklesĀ media biasĀ (pdf) and how it indiscriminately pathologizes communities of color for mass consumption. Separately, these issues can wreak havoc and destruction on their own, but we havenā€™t really focused on the ways in which implicit racial bias can potentiallyĀ infestĀ newsrooms.

ā€œImplicit bias impacts the way black communities are treated across practically all sectors of life in America, from courtrooms to doctorsā€™ offices,ā€ Rashad Robinson, executive director ofĀ ColorOfChange.org, tellsĀ The Root.Ā ā€œThe media is no different, whether it be the use of pejorative terms like ā€˜thugā€™ and ā€˜animalā€™ to describe protesters in Ferguson and Baltimore, or the widespread overreporting of crime stories involving black suspects in New York City.ā€

Media bias not only negatively impacts black Americaā€™s relationship withĀ law enforcement and the judicial systemĀ (pdf) but also extends to how African Americans are perceived in society at large. Couple the findings of Harvardā€™sĀ Project Implicit, which determined thatĀ approximately 88 percent of white AmericansĀ have implicitĀ racial bias against black people, with a racially homogeneous media industry, and the toxic environment that leads to media injustice is thrown into stark relief.

ā€œTelevision newsrooms are nearly 80 percent white, according to the Radio and Television News Directors Association, while radio newsrooms are 92 percent white,ā€ writesĀ Sally Lehrman, chairwoman of the Society of Professional Journalists. According to theAmerican Society of News Editors, ā€œThe percentage ofĀ minority journalistsĀ hasĀ remained betweenĀ 12 and 14 percentĀ for more than a decade.ā€

This lays the groundwork for an intrinsically racist media structure that, according toĀ The Atlanticā€™s Riva Gold,Ā means ā€œnews organizations are losing their ability to empower, represent, andā€”especially in cases where language ability is crucialā€”even to report on minority populations in their communities.ā€

Cosmetic diversity, however, wonā€™t save the day. According to the Harvard Implicit-Association Test,Ā 48 percent of African AmericansĀ also haveĀ implicitĀ racial bias against black people. Thatā€™s what you call deep conditioning, and with the number of African Americans in mediaĀ slowly increasing, itā€™s important that cultural diversity and awareness are present and fully accounted for as well.

A 2014Ā Sentencing Project reportĀ (pdf) points to media as a source of racial perceptions and misconceptionsĀ about crime in the United States, specifically suggesting that stereotypical expectations of journalists and producers, i.e., implicit bias, shape media narratives:

A study of television news found that black crime suspects were presented in more threatening contexts than whites: Black suspects were disproportionately shown in mug shots and in cases where the victim was a stranger. Black and Latino suspects were also more often presented in aĀ nonindividualizedĀ way than whitesā€”by being left unnamedā€”and were more likely to be shown as threateningā€”by being depicted inĀ physicalĀ custody of police. Blacks and Hispanics were also more likely to be treated aggressively by police officers on reality-based TV shows, includingĀ Americaā€™s Most WantedĀ andĀ Cops.Ā Mass media are therefore a major contributor to Americansā€™ misconceptions about crime, with journalistsĀ and producers apparently acting based on their own or expectations of their audiencesā€™ stereotypes about crime.

In recent years, the obviousness of this bias has rendered some mainstream outlets caricatures of trustworthy and impartial news sources. Of course, Fox News pundits such as Sean Hannity and Bill Oā€™Reilly are no better than propaganda peddlers seemingly committed to the asinine concept of white superiority. This would make them guilty of explicit racial bias because they are fully aware of the narratives they push to their consistentlyĀ uninformed viewers.

Itā€™s always the implicit racism, thoughā€”that elusiveĀ racism without racistsĀ (pdf)ā€”thatā€™s harder to define, thus harder to dismantle, even as recent eventsā€”such as theĀ Great Keene Pumpkin Riot of 2014Ā and theĀ Waco, Texas, biker-gang shootoutā€”have made it more difficult to conceal.

In both of these instances,Ā and many more like them, white rioters, looters and (alleged) murderers have often been discussed as if by public relations firms for white supremacy as opposed to an unbiased media. It makes little difference that whites riot, maim and killĀ overĀ someone being fired,Ā a team losingĀ orĀ winning,Ā aĀ surfing contestĀ or, perhaps, aĀ run-over toe.Ā Black protestersĀ uprising against theĀ savage snatching of black livesĀ by law-enforcement agencies are the ones framed asĀ wildĀ lootersĀ out to ā€œruin their own communities,ā€ while theĀ (in)justice systemĀ allows violent police officers to hop, skip and jump out of any responsibility.

ā€œThis [Waco] biker incident has been more sensational, likeĀ Sons of AnarchyĀ live, and real spectacle,ā€ Jared Ball, associate professor of media studies at Morgan State University, tellsĀ The Root.Ā ā€œScary like a horror movie, but not scary like Muslim terrorists or black people.

ā€œYet, a few young black schoolkids, who, again, it must be made clear, were set up and drawn into so-called ā€˜violenceā€™ against property, are described as threats worthy of full-riot-gear police, National Guard and wall-to-wall media coverage whose goal was to demonize anti-police violence … all while using the old and still usable formula of black = danger.ā€

It is clear that the fight for justice that has taken over the streets of America has made continued media bias impossible to ignore. This has forced a necessary shift in the ways in whichĀ mainstream media discusses racism, even if implicit bias still whispers beneath the surface.

According toĀ a 2000 studyĀ (pdf), ā€œPrime Suspects: The Influence of Local Television News on the Viewing Public,ā€ media is complicit in fostering a ā€œcrime scriptā€ that encouragesĀ blatantly biased policing tacticsĀ that target African Americans, particularly those who are perceived as being ā€œout of touch with the cultural mainstream.ā€ Not surprisingly, there is a direct link between exposure to the ā€œcrime scriptā€ and fear and prejudice against African Americans.

Each day, we are witnessing that prejudice play out inĀ classroomsĀ (pdf) filled with chalk andĀ streetsĀ lined with it. It is how protesters fighting against police brutality become ā€œthugsā€ and unarmed children like 17-year-oldĀ Trayvon MartinĀ and 12-year-oldĀ Tamir RiceĀ are placed on trial and found guilty from their graves.

ā€œBiased coverage perpetuates a dangerous cycle, by helping to create and affirm explicit and implicit biases in the minds of audiences,ā€ Robinson tellsĀ The Root.Ā ā€œPeople in everyday situationsā€”personal and professionalā€”then act out those biases, treating black people as if the mediaā€™s stereotypes are real.ā€

If institutionalized racism is the poison, then mainstream media is the hypodermic needle that pushes it deeply into the veins of society, rendering the humanity of black people invisible. And an increased awareness tells us that some media professionals donā€™t even realize theyā€™re dealers. Relying on a well-worn template that frames black people as thugs and cultural malignancies by default is not news; it is propaganda that serves only to reaffirm for many Americans what they think they know about black people.

And as long as media continues to stick to a script influenced by racial bias, our communities will continue to pay the price.

 

Source: Kirsten West Savali

The Root

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