Blacks in the Media

1.       According to Week 10 lecture, some researchers argue that various minority groups are unfairly represented in the media. They are portrayed in the media through reinforcing negative stereotypes. If you were to turn on the news right now, what would you see? “Today in South Central, a young man was shot to death while standing in front of a liquor store. The shooting is suspected to be gang related. Witnesses say the suspect is a Black male in his mid-twenties.” Or would you see something similar to: “Today, Paris Hilton was just arrested for robbing jewels from Nicole Richie’s Malibu apartment.” Pehl’s article describing the negative stereotypes reinforced by the media goes hand in hand with the roles Blacks are given in our entertainment. Everybody loves the classic movie, Friday, and everybody quotes the movie. Why couldn’t Craig and Smokey be two White men from Calabasas? Because that is not what media wants to reinforce. Racial minorities are always depicted as subtle, second-class citizens in film. Even with networks like BET, the forms of entertainment shown on the channel, still exhibit that Blacks should be ghetto and live in the ghettos of their neighborhoods in order to be Black. This epidemic is similar to Pehl’s concern about channels like Telemundo. They do not reinforce true life. They only reinforce the fantasy lifestyle that the media wants you to have based on their standards.