Stereotyping. Ugh.

This section on News Coverage of Racial Minority Mass Publics in the book goes into detail about exclusion, stereotypes, the limited effectiveness of diversifying news personal, and how the news frames stories about minorities to push specific master narratives that continue to support the status quo and create fear among the dominant ideology that minorities are trying to negatively disrupt the status quo.

Larson discusses the bias in news media and how it cannot be “a mirror of society or the events that occur; nor can it be” (84).  Perhaps some of the most difficult parts to read were stories of the public associating Blacks with poverty because of what they see on the news.  It was frustrating—to the extreme, as well as selective inclusion in other stories in order to deny systemic racism.  The undercurrent of racism through framing and stereotypes makes me so angry—and even more angry because they create stories to use as ways of denying that the stereotyping and racism exists!  It seems that the only reason to create those stories is because at some level, there is recognition that these actions are racist and it is a way of the news media to cover their asses.  Why do that?  Why not consider the stories they are telling instead?  I mean, I understand that economics are important to them.  I understand that.  But, how can people sleep at night, knowing this?  It seems they have to have some idea.  At least someone in the news company has to know.

The stereotypes about Hispanics were terrible too!  Immigration, is probably one of the biggest things that continues to be discussed in mainstream media, continues to stereotype Hispanics, frames Hispanics in a negative light, and all of these stereotypes and framing are used to push English-Only legislation, question work being done on making immigration a fairer process, and villainizing not only illegal immigrants but even legal immigrants, and American citizens who are of Hispanic descent.  All of the news media fails to discuss the immigration process, immigration reform, or distinguish between different groups of Hispanics.  Instead, they frame them as criminals, who are anti-American, and continue to push fear ideology about these people.  This fear creates mistrust in viewers, who then come at the issue of immigration with racist and limited knowledge of the issue and out of fear, refuse to consider the argument from a larger context.