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Lawrenzo Howell
Dr. McLaughlin
Writing and Rhetoric 13300
3 April 2015
Breaking News: Television News is Responsible for Racism
More than 30 years ago, a local news station in Jackson, Mississippi, became the first
local television station in the United States to lose its broadcast license because of failure to meet
its obligations to the African American community in accordance with the regulations of the
Federal Communications Commission (Fuller 262). Much has changed between then and now.
The greatest change is that the broadcasting industry has been deregulated and can now
broadcast freely as long as it shows some programming responsive to community needs (Fuller
263). Because of its inclination to broadcast news that ignores the needs of African Americans as
well depicting them in an unfavorable manner, television news is a platform in which racism has
been allowed to continue its spread into a post-Civil Rights Era. Since many Americans rely on
television news as a source of information, it is very influential in todays culture. By
broadcasting excessive news stories that pin African Americans to adverse situations such as
fighting, abusing government assistance, and gun violence, television news has contributed to the
shaping of Whites racial attitudes towards Blacks. This has led to a misrepresentation of Blacks
by news stations since the number of cases broadcasted is overly exaggerated.
Misrepresentations of African Americans in television news has become a contributing factor to
the reinforcement of negative stereotypes associated with African Americans.

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The issue of misrepresentation of African Americans on television news is one of the key
issues that leads to the negative connotations of African Americans. One study found that racial
representation on television news actually does not appear to match crime statistics (Entman 81).
The study found that news over represents Black perpetrators, under represents Black victims,
and over represents White victims (Entman 81). Another study in Los Angeles found that Blacks
represented 21 percent of those individuals arrested for crime but were 37 percent of the
perpetrators featured in crime news stories aired on Los Angeles news stations (Dixon 271). That
is nearly double the amount of crimes actually committed by African Americans!
Misrepresentations of Blacks and poverty in television news is prominent as well. In his book,
Why Americans Hate Welfare: Race, Media and the Politics of Antipoverty Policy, Martin Gilens
tells his readers that African Americans were represented in 70 percent of the news stories
indexed under poverty and in 75 percent of the stories indexed under welfare (123). Gilens
suggests that this misrepresentation in television news contributes significantly to Americans'
opposition to welfare. The deserving poor -the elderly and the working poor -typically portrayed
as poor white individuals whereas poor blacks have appeared mostly in stories about welfare
abuse or the underclass (154). Misrepresentations such as these allow for a skewed perception of
African Americans, resulting in the labeling of negative stereotypes which leads to racial
discrimination.
Racial stereotyping is when a given trait is generalized amongst people in a particular
race. Phrases such as, All Black people are ghetto, All Black people are loud, All Black
people are thieves, are examples of racial stereotyping. One example of this false perception of
African Americans occurred in a study conducted by the Oppenheimer Research Center in
Florid. Researchers found that Whites perceived African Americans as the perpetrators in

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stealing related incidents over 40 % of the time. However, statistics showed that African
Americans were responsible for these crimes just under 30 % of the time. When asked what
percentage of violent related incidents were African Americans responsible for, Whites
responded with 45 %. Research showed that African Americans were responsible for 20 % of
those crimes (Swanson). The pre-conceived ideas of African Americans are what allow for
negative stereotypes. This paper will focus on three of the most common negative stereotypes
associated with African Americans: Blacks are criminals, thugs, and poor citizens. I will show
the toxic yet undeniable relationship between these stereotypes and television news.
Many people argue that there is not a correlation between television news and racial
stereotyping. Their argument against this claim is that viewers already have these racially-biased
ideas about certain groups of people, therefore television news cannot support nor hinder those
ideas. This argument is valid because lots of our beliefs as humans are socially developed.
Therefore, people may be raised in an environment in which they developed racially-biased
views. However, research does show that there is a correlation between television news and
racial stereotyping. Take for example a study conducted by Psychologist Bob Entman. His
research found that media perpetuates stereotypical images, so if audiences interpret those
images in ways that subtly support the stereotypes, then a lot of prejudice-congruent messages
are being digested. Television news, for example, often contains images of Blacks that reinforce
the dominant cultural stereotype of Blacks as dangerous (Quoted by Bradley W. Gorham 100).
Because the news is generally seen as a reliable and truthful source, the images that television
news broadcast is used as an accurate measure of what a certain group of people are really like.
Therefore, television news acts as reinforcement to ideas we, as viewers, gather from our racially
biased culture. Although racial stereotyping may not be something that non-prejudiced people

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would like to do consciously, television news attacks the subconscious thoughts that people have,
thus resulting in racial stereotyping.
One stereotype that television news programming has amplified is the idea that all
African Americans are dangerous criminals. One of the first investigations on the effects of
television news was conducted by Bob Entman and his colleagues (Dixon 108). Entman
conducted his research by reviewing TV news stations in Chicago and found that Black men
accused of a crime were much more likely than similarly accused White suspects to be shown in
the grip of a restraining police officer (Dixon 108). This type of coverage shows African
Americans as so threatening that they need to be restrained; thus resulting in the stereotype that
African Americans are dangerous criminals who are uncontrollable and should be feared. By
ignoring the numerous cases in which White Americans have committed similar acts of
misconduct, television news portrays members of the Black community as prototypes of what
criminals look like.
What is also alarming about the disparity between coverage of Black crime versus
coverage of White crime is that when examining the percentage of times a criminals face was
matched with a name on local news, Blacks were named less frequently. 65 percent of Whites
were shown with names, but only 49 percent of Blacks were shown with names (Entman 350).
This leads to the dehumanization of Black people. By showing a name with a face only half of
the time, TV news stations are showing that African Americans are not good enough to have an
identity; consequently, the White majority does not care about the identity of Blacks perpetrators
and sees them all as the same instead of viewing them as individuals.
Not surprisingly, Whites believe that they are more likely to be victimized by a member
of a minority group, whereas statistics show that they are actually three times more likely to be

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victimized by another White person (Klein&Naccarato 1611). Because information like this is
kept out of local television news, Whites have the misconception that they are safer around
people of their race. This leads to subtle racial discrimination against Blacks arisen by the fear
that they are all dangerous. Furthermore, this common stereotype has erroneously served as
justification for the unofficial policy and practice of racial profiling by criminal justice
practitioners.
African American males are also portrayed as thugs on local television news. There is this
idea that if a person dresses a certain way, say sagging pants and dark hoodies, then they are a
thug. Since this type of style is usually associated with Black males, they are the prototype for
what a thug looks like. The story of Trayvon Martin was a huge story broadcasted on virtually
every TV news station. Martin, who was wearing a dark hoodie at the time of the incident, was
shot and killed by a neighborhood watchman, George Zimmerman. Although Martin was
unarmed, TV news identified him as a thug because of his dress apparel. One member of FOX
News even made the claim that Trayvon Martin would be alive today if he didn't have street
attitude (Savage). Another agreed and said, Martin would still be alive if he wasnt wearing
that hoodie (Savage). Most interestingly was the comment viewers made in response to the
segment. One commenter, trayvon2262012, stated this, Well blacks commit all the crime
(Savage).This comment is proof of the impact racial stereotypes, influenced by TV news, can
have on the false perceptions of viewers.
I believe that if Martin were white and still had on the exact same hoodie he was wearing
the day he was murdered, he would still be alive today. However, thanks to TV news, many
Americans have the perception that being Black and wearing a hoodie is synonymous with being
a threat to society. This is simply absurd seeing as though Whites can walk around in a hoodie,

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day and night, and still be seen as non-threatening. Many other stories have made TV news in
which the same scenario occurred: an unarmed African American male, dressed in a thuggish
manner, killed by a white officer. The way TV news frames these stories to make the victims
seem at fault because of the stereotype they are associated with (thug) dehumanizes the victims
which results in a lack sympathy for the victims by a lot of Whites. I am not making the
argument that these victims were necessarily innocent saints. I am simply arguing that the news
portrayal of these victims makes them seem as if they are the problem in society versus
examining the racial stereotypes that influenced the motives of these officers. By acknowledging
the fact that TV news representation of Black males as thugs could be a partial reason as to why
these officers and other Americans perceive Black males as thugs, it makes blaming the victims a
less viable explanation.
Television news has also supplemented the stereotype that African Americans are poor
and live off of government assistance. Since President Reagans initial story about the supposed
Welfare Queen, a woman who abused government assistance and received hundreds of
thousands of dollars in the process, there has been this idea that all recipients of welfare abuse it.
There is also the idea that most people on welfare are Black. A study on eight major television
news stations found that studies on welfare focused on young, Black, single, inner city mothers,
skewing the perception that most women on welfare are Black (Media Report to Women);
however, according to the U.S Department of Health and Human Services, most women on
welfare are White and thirty years old, on average. (Qtd by Mira Sotorivic 751) The U.S. Census
Bureau Report also showed that Urban Black mothers head fewer than one out of six poor
households, while White suburban families account for one out of four poor households. (Qtd by
Mira Sotorivic 751) This contradiction of TV News portrayal versus the facts elicits false

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awareness of what people are actually on welfare. This stereotype is extremely offensive to the
Black community because it feeds into the idea that Blacks are second-class citizens. The
resulting consequence of this idea is that Blacks are treated as inferior and worthless.
The major issue with television news is its absence of positive stereotypes for the Black
community. Because of this void, Whites are forced to only associate the negative stereotypes
that television news broadcasts with African Americans. For example, a study conducted by
Robert Entman found that only 2.7 percent of news stories regarding African American males
were positive (Entman 377). That means that for every 100 news stories, roughly 3 of those
stories paints a positive image for Black males. With 97 other stories that pin Black males to
negative situations, it is hard to develop a positive image regarding Black males. Although it is
the news job to broadcast what is going on in the world, statistics have proven that the news has
a tendency to exaggerate the amount of bad that is actually occurring.
One possible solution to fixing this problem is for TV news to broadcast more favorable
news stories about African Americans. By broadcasting news in which African Americans are
applauded for their contributions to their communities and to their country, versus news that only
shows African Americans causing trouble and chaos, this will help bring light and positivity to
the Black community. It will also show that African Americans are just as deserving to have their
auspicious achievements that depict them as great citizens as White Americans are. Most
importantly, it will help boost the confidence of African Americans. Racial stereotyping can have
a deadly effect on the self-esteem of African Americans. Research conducted by John Grohol
found that when reminded of positive stereotypes, African Americans performed higher on
specific tasks (Grohol 1). If you apply this example to a grander scale, if African Americans were
presented with positive stereotypes regularly, they would be able to make more positive

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contributions. Although it may not completely end racial discrimination, it will lead to changing
the negatively skewed, falsified perceptions that Whites have about Blacks as well give the Black
community the positive boost they need to achieve success.
The most viable solution to this issue is for television news to broadcast more stories that
show Whites and other Americans in a negative manner. This would still help the current
dilemma because it would reveal the truth: that not every criminal, thug, or poor person, is
Black. It would show that African Americans are not lower-class citizens because the news
depicts them that way. It would show that Whites commit crimes too, and are not always the
victims. Statistics show that Whites are accountable for 64.8% of assault charges, while Blacks
are responsible for 32.6% of assault charges, which is approximately half of the charges Whites
are responsible for (FBI). By broadcasting true statistics, such as Whites make up 69.2% of
perpetrators arrested for crime, while African Americans make up 28.4% (FBI), there will not be
the misconception that Blacks commit all the crime. Broadcasting real statistics would show that
the true Welfare Queen is a middle-aged, White, suburban woman. By broadcasting more
accurate news that illustrates the truth about what actually goes on in America, rather than a
racially biased interpretation, viewers will have the opportunity to reevaluate the stereotypes they
associate with African Americans solely, and discover that people from all races and ethnicities
fit these stereotypes.
Racial stereotyping of African Americans is a trend in todays society that has been
negatively influenced by television news. Stereotypes that categorize Black people as criminals,
thugs, and poor citizens, not only give the Black community as a whole a horrible reputation, but
these stereotypes also ignore the positive attributes that African Americans have. Television
news, however, ignores these positive attributes by broadcasting immoderate news stories that

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label African Americans as the antagonists of society. This imputes the racial discrimination in
America and must be addressed if our country truly wants to progress to a post-racial society.

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Works Cited
Dixon, Tl. Network News and Racial Beliefs: Exploring the Connection between
National Television News Exposure and Stereotypical Perceptions of African Americans. Journal
Of Communication 58.2 (2008): 321-37. Print.
Entman, Robert M., and Andrew Rojecki. The Black Image in the White Mind : Media
and Race in America. Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2000. Print.
FBI. FBI, 26 Sept. 2012. Web.
Fuller, Lorraine. WLBT News in the Deregulation Era: Modern Racism or Representative
Picture? Journal of Black Studies 35.4 (2005): 262-92. Web.
Gilens, Martin. Why Americans Hate Welfare: Race, Media, and the Politics of
Antipoverty Policy. Chicago: U of Chicago, 1999. Print.
Gilliam, Franklin D., Jr. Prime Suspects: The Influence of Local Television News on the
Viewing Public. 3rd ed. Vol. 44. N.p.: Midwest Political Science Association, 2000. Print.
American Journal of Political Science.
Gorham, B.w. News Media's Relationship with Stereotyping: The Linguistic Intergroup
Bias in Response to Crime News. Journal Of Communication 56.2 (2006): 289-308. Print.
Grohol, John. "Stereotyping That Hurts, Stereotyping That Helps." World of Psychology.
Psych Central, n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2015.
Klein, Roger D., and Stacy Naccarato. "Broadcast News Portrayal of Minorities:
Accuracy in Reporting." American Behavioral Scientist 46.12 (2003): 1611-616. Web.

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Savage, Michael. Fox News Guest: 'Trayvon Martin Would Be Alive Today If He Didn't
Have Street Attitude.' Online video. YouTube (2013).Web.
Sotirovic, Mira. "Media Use and Perceptions of Welfare." - Sotirovic. N.p., n.d. Web.
Women on Welfare. MediaReporttoWomen. N.p., n.d. Web.
Swanson, Linda. "Whites Greatly Overestimate the Share of Crimes Committed by Black
People." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 2010. Web.