Portrayal Of Black Men In News Broadcasts In Relation To Popular Research Paper

Portrayal Of Black Men In News Broadcasts In Relation To Popular Culture In American Society - Research Paper Example It is therefore conclusive that the news affects and is affected by the dominant trends and affairs in the society. However, in the case of America, there is reason to suspect that some elements stereotypical and racism affects the objectivity of newscasters. Due to this, there are some trends in the media that portray Black men in a way that is often not clear and/or representative of the actual actions that occur in the wider society. This paper argues that the way Black men are portrayed by in the news media is strongly influenced by stereotypes amongst key players in the media as well as popular culture which has presented Black men as violent and a menace to society. Empirical Studies Research and studies have been carried out by various academics and stakeholders in the American society about the image that the news media presents of Black men. The dominant research in this area were conducted by two main figures, Entman and Romer. Entman discovered in his research that the dom inant image of Black men portrayed in the media is that of mug shots which indicates a Black man under restraint by a White police officer (330). On the other hand, White criminals who are featured in news are often shown with their past picture. This indicates that the White criminals are presented in a less harsh form whilst the Black criminal is presented as a dangerous handcuffed person who needs to be restrained because he is dangerous. Also, Entman identified that Black criminals are often presented in news without their names (342). This suggests that these Black men are seen to be just a part of a larger group of criminals who has just done what members of his group do – commit crime. On the other hand, White criminals are always presented under their individual names. This shows that the White community presents their criminals as persona non grata or persons who are singled out of their 'clean' society for inappropriate behavior to the group. Romer however conducted statistical research that led to interesting findings and conclusions that gave very different identifications to the whole idea of the way criminals of Black origins are presented in America. First of all, he identifies that Black men are thrice more likely to appear as criminal suspects and they are twice as likely not to appear as law enforcement officers (Harnett 110). This means that Black people are always seen as the bad guys. They are hardly seen as the law enforcement officers. In comparative studies, Romer identified that although 30% of homicide victims in Los Angeles are Blacks, they are seriously under-represented in police coverage of homicide victims. Most homicide victims who merit news exposure in LA are Whites (Harnett 110). Also, the American Bar Association recommends that the past crimes of suspects and victims must be aired to provide better discharge of justice in cases (Harnett 110). However, in real life, Black victims are likely to have their past criminal records disclosed through the media. This also shows that there is clear evidence that there is discrimination in the news. Whites dominate in the area of violence and felony in Los Angeles but only 20% of these crimes are ever aired on TV. Also, with a statistic of 59% of the police officers in LA being White, they are over-represented in media coverages because about 69% of police officers who appear in news broadcasts are