Black Stereotypes in Media

In Unit 3, we have been studying how or if the media affects the perception of Blacks amongst society. A key issue we have been looking at is in crime. In "Representation and Reality in the portrayal of Blacks on Network Television News", Entman looks at how the media fosters negative stereotypes of Blacks. The article which the Washington Post has covered on the actions of DC Council Chairman Kwame Brown, is a prime example of the discussion Entman provided. Apparently the Office of Campaign Finance found a discrepancy within Chairman Brown's campaign. "An audit released in April by the Office of Campaign Finance found that Brown's campaign failed to report contributions and expenditures totaling more than $270,000." (Debonis) This is quite similar to a finding Entman relates in his article, "By granting higher priority to dramatic controversy among the powerful and lower priority to ordinary processes of policy-making....any leader who receives concentrated attention is quite likely in some kind of trouble". (Entman) Not only does the media portray young black males excessively in crime stories, they also highlight those black leaders surrounded in controversial issues. This agenda setting reinforces the idea that African Americans are helpless and must be controlled by society (or whites). I was surprise to see that this kind of reporting is still going on in 2011. Hopefully soon, we will be able to see a variety of reporting on blacks which uplifts the race.