MINORITIES AND THE MEDIA

The topic of race and ethnicity in the media has generated a wealth of research attention. In general, analyses of media portrayals show a great deal of variability both across time and across types of media content. These variations are reflected in studies of racial differences in use and enjoyment of media offerings, and are also evident in research exploring potential effects that media portrayals may have on the attitudes and beliefs that viewers hold about race.

Portrayals of Race and Ethnicity

In the late 1960s, Cedric Clark (1969) characterized the typical ways that minorities are featured in the media by identifying four distinct stages of portrayals. The first stage, labeled "non-recognition," referred to the idea that initially, people of color are generally ignored by the media and are rarely seen in any type of portrayal. The second stage, "ridicule," referred to negative and stereotypical media images. The third stage, "regulation," referred to the portrayal of minorities in roles upholding social order or protecting the status quo (e.g., police officers, military). The final stage, "respect," referred to portrayals including a diversity of images, both positive and negative, that parallel characterizations of Caucasians. To what extent do these stages accurately describe images of race and ethnicity in recent media content? The answer to this question largely depends on the racial or ethnic group in question and the type of media content under consideration.

Frequency of Portrayals

The percentages of minority characters on television have increased dramatically over the last several decades, largely due to an increase in the portrayal of African Americans. For example, Bradley Greenberg and Larry Collette (1997) content analyzed the major characters who appeared on new television programs from 1966 to 1992. Across these years, the percentage of African-American characters increased from 6 percent in the 1960s to 14 percent in the 1990s. In contrast, virtually no new Asian or Hispanic characters were introduced in the 1990s. These results parallel those reported by Robert Kubey (1995) in his analysis of character appearance on network and cable stations. In his study, Caucasians accounted for 81 percent of all appearances, African Americans 9 percent, Hispanics 7 percent, and Asians 2 percent—with the remainder being coded as "other." Together, these studies suggest that television content at the beginning of the twenty-first century features a frequency of African-American portrayals that closely approximates population proportions, but continues to underrepresent other minorities including Hispanics, Asians, and Native Americans.

In addition to examining frequencies of portrayals in general, many analyses have also explored representation within specific genres, programs, or networks. For example, content analyses during the 1970s tended to report that although African Americans accounted for almost 10 percent of all characters, these appearances were extremely segregated and were almost entirely confined to situation comedies featuring all-black casts. Similar racial segregation continues to be apparent in television content. Kubey (1995) reported that although African Americans represented 11 percent of all characters appearing on cable television, this figure dropped to 6.6 percent when the Black Entertainment Network (BET) was excluded from the analysis. Similarly, the representation of Hispanic characters was almost entirely confined to Spanish-language channels; when those channels were excluded, Hispanic characters represented less than 3 percent of all appearances.

In terms of specific genres, many researchers have voiced particular concerns about the lack of minority representation in children's television programming. For example, Bradley Greenberg and Jeffrey Brand (1993) noted that only two of the twenty programs they examined contained regularly appearing African-American characters, only one featured a regularly appearing Hispanic character, and none featured Asian or Native American characters. These results parallel the earlier analysis by Francis Barcus (1993) of children's programs, which reported that only 18 percent of programming scenes featured interactions between Caucasian and minority children.

In addition to portrayals in entertainment, depictions of race in news content have received considerable attention by many researchers. For example, the analysis by Robert Entman (1990) of local television news in Chicago found that among all stories featuring African Americans, 41 percent of the air time was devoted to issues of violent crime. In contrast, portrayals of minorities in more-positive roles such as newsmakers appear to be less common. For example, David Dodd, Barbara Foerch, and Heather Anderson (1988) examined the covers of Time and Newsweek from 1953 to 1987. Of all primary individuals featured on the covers of these magazines, only 6.6 percent were racial minorities, and only one cover featured a Hispanic individual. In addition, among the sixty-one "Man of the Year" awards selected during that period, only two featured racial minorities.

Finally, analyses of minority representation in advertising reveals patterns of portrayals that mirror many of the trends found in programming content. That is, despite increases in the frequency of minority representation over the years, the prominence of the portrayals continues to lag behind that of Caucasians. For example, the content analysis by Robert Wilkes and Humberto Valencia (1989) of advertising during prime-time network programming revealed that approximately 6 percent of all commercials contained Hispanic models, and 27 percent contained African-American models. However, approximately 70 percent of all minority portrayals were contained in minor or background roles as opposed to major roles such as spokesperson. Similar findings were reported by Charles Taylor and Barbara Stern (1997) in their analysis of Asian Americans in network advertising. Although the total proportion of Asian characters in the commercials (8.4%) exceeded population proportions, the majority of Asian characters appeared only in minor or background roles.

Nature of Portrayals

In addition to exploring the frequency of media portrayals, a great deal of research has explored the manner in which minority characters are depicted. Earlier analyses of television content tended to report very negative and stereotypical images of minorities. In general, minority characters were often depicted as younger than Caucasians, as less likely to be employed in high-prestige occupations, and as more likely to be impoverished and from broken families. However, more recent analyses of prime-time programming suggest trends toward more-positive portrayals, at least among African-American characters. For example, the content analysis by Carolyn Stroman, Bishetta Merritt, and Paula Matabane (1988) of prime-time programming showed that the majority of African-American characters were portrayed as middle-or upper-class (73%), with the most-frequent occupations being professional (22%) or law enforcement (38%) roles. In addition, the majority of African-American characters (60%) were thirty-five years old or older, and most (60%) were characterized as members of families.

Though depictions in fictional program content appear to have shown considerable improvement from earlier decades, recent analyses of nonfiction content continue to report disparities in the portrayal of minorities versus Caucasians, and particularly so for depictions of crime and violence. In contrast to analyses of fictional crime programs that tend to find an underrepresentation of minorities as criminal suspects, analyses of news content tend to report that people of color are overrepresented as criminals. For example, Travis Dixon and Daniel Linz (2000) content analyzed a random sample of local television newscasts in the Los Angeles area for their portrayals of criminal activity and crime victimization. In general, African Americans were more than twice as likely to be portrayed as perpetrators than as victims of crime, whereas Caucasians were more likely to be portrayed as victims than as perpetrators. In addition, comparisons with actual, local crime statistics recorded during the same time period revealed that African Americans were underrepresented as crime victims and overrepresented as crime perpetrators in the news, whereas Caucasians were overrepresented as victims and underrepresented as perpetrators. Latinos were generally underrepresented as both victims and as perpetuators, suggesting a general underreporting of events within the Latino community.

Similar patterns of racial portrayals have also been reported in a related type of entertainment programming; reality-based police shows. These programs such as Cops and America's Most Wanted blur the distinction between fiction and news, but typically employ video footage or reenactments of actual crimes. The content analysis by Mary Beth Oliver (1994) of these shows revealed that 77 percent of African-American characters and 89 percent of Hispanic characters were portrayed as criminal suspects rather than police officers, compared to only 38 percent of Caucasian characters. In addition, African-American and Hispanic criminal suspects were more likely than Caucasian criminal suspects to be the recipient of police aggression, even after controlling for the type of crime portrayed and the use of aggression by the criminal suspect. Similar patterns of portrayals were also noted by Robert Entman (1992, 1994) in his analyses of national television news and local television news coverage in Chicago. Specifically, Entman reported that African-American suspects were more likely than Caucasian suspects to be shown as poorly dressed and as physically held or restrained by police officers, suggesting that they were more dangerous or "criminal."

Responses by Minorities to Media Portrayals of Minorities

Given that many media portrayals of race feature less-than-flattering images, how might minority viewers react to such depictions? Although at first glance it might seem that minorities would simply "tune out" and consume significantly less media content than would Caucasian viewers, overall viewing frequencies suggest that the reverse is actually the case, particularly among African-American viewers. In general, Nielsen Media Research (1998) reports that African-American households watch approximately two more hours of prime-time programming per week than do all other households combined, and five more hours of daytime programming per week. Similarly, Hispanic households watch approximately seven more hours of total television programming per week than do all other households, though this difference is largely attributable to a larger number of family members in Hispanic homes.

Although African Americans and Hispanics appear to view television more frequently than do Caucasians, these groups tend to view very different types of programming. While top-rated prime time and syndicated programs for non-African American households tend to feature predominantly Caucasian characters (e.g., Seinfeld, Friends, Home Improvement), top-rated programs among African-American households tend to feature a greater preponderance of African-American characters (e.g., Living Single, Martin, Family Matters). Similarly, Spanish-language programming receives the highest viewer ratings in Hispanic households.

These differences in viewing patterns are consistent with numerous studies examining the responses of viewers to media characters. In general, research suggests that viewers attend more-closely to and have more-favorable impressions of characters in their own racial or ethnic group. Similarly, African-American children are more likely than Caucasian children to want to emulate African-American characters featured in the media. For example, Bradley Greenberg and Charles Atkin (1982) reported that while African-American and Caucasian elementary children were equally likely to agree that they wanted to "be like" a variety of white characters, a significantly larger percentage of African-American children (37%) than Caucasian children (11%) identified with black characters. Similar differences have also been reported among adult samples and for other types of media content, such as advertising. For example, the review by Tommy Whittler (1991) of the responses viewers had to commercials suggested that black viewers tended to respond more favorably and to better recall advertisements when the advertisements featured African Americans than when they did not.

Although minorities generally show more interest and more-favorable attitudes toward same-race media portrayals, there has been some concern about the potential harmful effect of overall television viewing on minority viewers and particularly on children. Specifically, given that the more-general media landscape tends to under-represent people of color and to frequently feature stereotypical portrayals, there may be reason to suspect that frequent viewing could lead to lower levels of self-esteem or feelings of self-worth. However, the review by Sherryl Browne Graves (1993) of related research revealed mixed support for this hypothesized influence, at least among African-American children. While some studies suggested negative impacts of stereotypical images on black children's self-concepts, other studies reported that any portrayal (positive or negative) of African Americans increased favorable attitudes among black children. Similar results were also reported by Federico Subervi-Vélez and Juan Necochea (1990) in their survey of Hispanic elementary school children in California. Contrary to predictions, overall television viewing was marginally associated with more-positive self-concept scores, and viewing of Spanish-language television was unrelated to self-concept.

While the effects of media viewing on self-concept are not clear-cut, these mixed findings should not be interpreted as suggesting that minorities are satisfied with media portrayals. For example, Ronald Faber, Thomas O'Guinn, and Timothy Meyer (1987) surveyed Caucasians, Hispanics, and African Americans in the Chicago area concerning their television viewing habits and their perceptions of media portrayals of race. Hispanic and African-American respondents were significantly more likely than Caucasian respondents to believe that Hispanics and African Americans were underrepresented in the media. In addition, heavier viewing among African-American and Hispanic respondents was associated with more-negative perceptions of racial portrayals. Similar indications of disapproval were reported by Debra Merskin (1998) in her survey of Native American college students. Approximately two-thirds of the respondents in her sample reported dissatisfaction with television programming aimed at both child and adult audiences.

Effects on Caucasian Viewers

In contrast to studies employing minority samples, most media research employing Caucasian samples specifically has focused on the ways in which media images of race may increase negative attitudes and stereotyping. In this regard, some researchers have employed a cultivation perspective to examine the influences of television on the beliefs that viewers hold about racial minorities. For example, Blake Armstrong, Kimberly Neuendorf, and James Brentar (1992) reasoned that exposure to different types of media programming would be related to the perceptions that viewers had of African-American socioeconomic status. Consistent with predictions, viewing of fictional programming was related to estimates that African Americans enjoy higher socioeconomic positions, whereas exposure to news programming was related to estimates that African Americans are relatively worse off economically compared to Caucasians.

This type of cultivation perspective has also been employed to examine nonfiction content and crime-related beliefs about racial minorities. For example, Mary Beth Oliver and Blake Armstrong (1998) surveyed white respondents about their beliefs of the prevalence of African-American and Caucasian involvement in crime. While greater viewing of both reality-based and fictional police programs predicted higher estimates of crime involvement for both racial groups, reality-based viewing was associated with greater increases in estimates for African-American than Caucasian involvement. These authors interpreted their findings as reflecting the typically more-incriminating portrayals of African Americans in reality-based than fictional crime programming.

In addition to exploring the ways in which media exposure can gradually cultivate attitudes and beliefs about race, other researchers have explored the idea that negative media images of African Americans can prime (or bring to mind) negative thoughts that can, in turn, affect subsequent perceptions of individuals. Thomas Ford (1997) demonstrated this type of priming effect in an experiment in which white participants viewed television comedy skits that featured either neutral portrayals of African-American characters or stereotypical portrayals (e.g., poor, unemployed, and so on). In a subsequent task, participants read a brief description of a crime story that featured either an African-American or a Caucasian suspect. Ratings of the likely guilt of the African-American suspect were significantly higher among those participants who had viewed the stereotyped videos than among those who had viewed the neutral videos, whereas ratings of guilt for the Caucasian suspect were unaffected by the video portrayals.

In addition to suggesting that television viewing can lead to negative racial stereotypes under some conditions, research also suggests that the racial stereotypes held by viewers can influence the ways in which viewers understand, interpret, or react to racial images presented in the media. Research from this perspective typically makes the assumption that the responses that viewers have to media are not uniform, and that much of the variation in responses reflects different attitudes and beliefs that act as a "filter" of media messages. In terms of race-related issues, research from this perspective has examined a variety of attitudinal or belief "filters" that may affect the reactions of viewers, including racial prejudice, punitiveness about crime, and authoritarianism. In general, these studies show that viewers tend to interpret or remember media portrayals in ways that are consistent with or that reinforce their existing attitudes or beliefs about race. For example, Neil Vidmar and Milton Rokeach (1974) examined the responses to the award-winning television program All in the Family. Although this program was designed to expose and condemn racism, Vidmar and Rokeach found that viewers had very different perceptions of the program that varied as a function of their racial attitudes. In particular, viewers scoring lower on racial prejudice tended to interpret the program and the primary characters in ways consistent with the intentions of the producers, whereas viewers scoring higher on racial prejudice tended to interpret the program and the characters as more sympathetic to racially prejudiced attitudes.

The aforementioned line of research concerning interpretations of media content implies that attempts to use media to reduce racial stereotyping may meet with considerable challenges. However, some research, particularly with children, suggests that under some circumstances, favorable portrayals of race may lead to beneficial or pro-social outcomes. For example, the review by Robert Liebert and Joyce Sprafkin (1988) of research on the effects of multiracial portrayals in Sesame Street suggests that positive portrayals can lead to a host of benefits, including greater acceptance of, identification with, and desire to interact with racial minorities.

Conclusion

The frequency and nature of media images of race has experienced a great deal of positive change since the early days of the television. However, the most noteworthy changes have occurred for fictional portrayals of African-American characters. Other minorities remain largely ignored by the media or cast in minor or often negative roles. These types of portrayals (or lack thereof) are associated not only with differential viewing preferences among racial groups, but also with the potential danger of increasing racial prejudice and stereotyping among Caucasian viewers. Certainly, much additional research is needed to examine how media portrayals can work toward increasing racial harmony rather than creating or sustaining stereotypes.

See also:Cultivation Theory and Media Effects; News Effects; Sesame Street.

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Mary Beth Oliver

Dana R. Broussard