Ethnic and Racial Images in the Media

Diane's post: Feb. 1

Using the "Cited References" search for Herman Gray, I found three articles that site his article. These are useful to someone researching the construction of images of race in media.


Meyers, M. “African American Women and Violence: Gender, Race and Class in the News” Critical Studies in Media Communication 21.2 (2004): 95-118

This document examines the representation of violence against African American women in local TV news. The results of a study indicate that the gender, race, and class oppressions minimized the seriousness of the violence against them. Television portrayed the victims as provoking the assault. Coverage reinforced race and class stereotypes by representing locals as underclass troublemakers prone to crime. This document is useful because it discusses a specific group of African Americans: women.


Lundman, RJ. “The Newsworthiness and Selection Bias in News about Murder: Comparative and Relative Effects of Novelty and Race and Gender Typifications on Newspaper Coverage of Homicide” Sociological Forum 18.3 (2003): 357-386

Lundman argues that newsworthiness as represented by novelty is an incomplete explanation of selection bias. Instead, news about murder is the product of journalistic assessments firmly grounded in race and gender typifications. This article specifically discusses the news media and its relationship with race.



Murphy, ST. “The Impact of Factual versus Fictional Media Portrayals on Cultural Stereotypes” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 560 (1998): 165-178

This document explores how factual and fictional media portrayals activate racial and gender stereotypes. It suggests how media portrayals might successfully reduce prejudice. This article not only talks about the present situation but also discusses how it might be improved.

Diane Jansen

posted by Diane @ 1:06 PM