Diversity in the Newsroom

The articles we discussed in class about the diversity in newsrooms really made me think about a couple of my past internships and their lack of diversity.

My first internship after my freshman year at IU was at a weekly paper in Oxford, Ohio. The staff consisted of only one reporter other than the editor -- both white men. The advertising department was run by a white woman, which offered a little bit of diversity in gender.

Until this class, I didn't exactly see how an all-male staff would influence news reporting. Then I began an internship in the marketing communications department at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where I now realize all the difference.

My direct supervisors in the publications department at Miami University were all women. Most of the management was, and I felt more at home. I feel as if we worked as more of a group (as we discussed in class) and allowed for more flexibility and creativity. My boss was more than understanding if something came up that changed the schedules for interviews or anything else I needed to do.

However, the one thing that has always seemed to lack is diversity in races. I've never, in all eight of my internships, worked for a direct supervisor who was not white. I remember my time at Miami as needing to be sure pictures published in student publication materials had students of different races and genders and how important it was to stress the campus as multicultural and diverse, even though most of the management was not.

As I look back, I used to wonder why management was so concerned about the issue of diversity in its creative materials, though I understand now both personally and how a business needs it.

This article we read in class really struck my interest. I've seen the push for more diverse newsrooms or work environments on a local level, but I think the Post pushes this limit. I didn't find this as much of a valid argument for hiring a more diverse newsroom. When it comes down to it, the media focuses on the "typical white male" kind of reader. And when you have older white males on the management staff, I think you can be sure news will stick that way.

Even with the lack of diversity I've seen in internships, I do believe the most diverse newsroom I've ever seen would be the Indiana Daily Student. As a reporter and editor there, I was able to interact with people of all races and genders, and I think anyone who has had experience there can consider themselves lucky -- even though they probably won't see this much out in the real world.

Advertising to Gay and Lesbian Audiences

While the Sender reading explained advertising through traditionally gay and lesbian media, another class of mine described the opposite: how traditionally straight publications market to the gay and lesbian market.

Though there are similarities, the differences are much more obvious.

We established in class that the gay and lesbian market is becoming more important for advertising because of the market's high status in culture. The market has a tendency to be more affluent, which makes it a prime target for advertisers.

The article we read in class spoke about the difference between marketing sexy and sleazy. However, in more mainstream media, advertisers try something a little less obvious, which is a strategy known as gay window advertising.

One of the basic ideas of this strategy is marketing to the gay and lesbian community while remaining ambiguous to the majority population.

In the Calvin Klein ad above, the models are somewhat gender-ambiguous. It can be semi-difficult to tell the gender by first glance.

Another aspect could be the use of only male models or only female models, or the use of only one model, like this ad. With an ad of all female or all male models, it's undetermined that the advertiser is marketing toward any specific group. Also, with higher-end brands like Calvin Klein, the models are placed in such a way to promote sex without being sleazy, an important aspect for traditionally gay media.

It's important for advertisers in all media to start recognizing the gay and lesbian communities if they have not done so already. This audience is just as powerful as any other, and the products that market toward it will be successful.

Native American Portrayal in Media

Native Americans are more than just feathers and loincloths.

As a person with Native American heritage, I am particularly interested in how the media has portrayed natives, especially in movies. Hollywood continues to shape the public's perception of Native Americans, but not always in favorable ways.

For example, Pocahontas depicts natives as the Indian princess, and most Westerns typically have Native Americans in a violent, savage role.

And who can forget the classic Cowboy/Indians game? Cowboys, of course, were the good guys, while Indians were the bad guys. Young boys idolize cowboys, and this influence of Native Americans is stereotypical.

Even in some movies and films about Native Americans, the native roles themselves were played by white or other foreign actors. This puts the idea of a Native American culture as a spectacle. Natives were given a few different roles: the Indian princess, the warrior and the noble savage, just to name a few. Though filmmakers did begin to feel somewhat guilty about the Native American situation, I feel that natives still have to fight against stereotypes such as the alcoholic or trusty sidekick.

In contemporary times, the biggest way I feel that Native Americans continue to be stereotyped is through sports mascots.



To me, I think the use of Indian mascots is demeaning. I don't think a lot of people see it this way, though, because non-Native American people usually see it as an honor. But would we ever use a Black or Hispanic person as a mascot? I think not.

Our discussion about minorities in films and movies has caused me to take a deeper look into the movies I have always enjoyed to see what kind of minority stereotypes I've been missing. I've always felt strongly about Native American portrayals, but our discussion makes me think to look a little deeper.

A Deeper Look into White Privilege

One issue during class really struck my interest - white privilege and how it presents itself in media.

White privilege, as we discussed in class, is a relatively contemporary issue. However, I find it a semi-confusing one, as the very definition of white privilege varies depending on where I'm searching. Though it's not difficult to find information on the issue, it's just difficult to sort through it.

It seems to me the issue of white privilege has a community of its own. But from what I can tell, the idea of white privilege points back to one thing: a sense of power.

This ABC news special from 1989 explains the issue of white privilege by studying children's thoughts.

Many movies still demonstrate white privilege by continuing to have white males playing the most powerful, heroic roles. Though this isn't always the case, such as Crash (1994), shows white privilege in more subtle ways. This clip contains a scene where white privilege is discussed.

White privilege is not something I usually consider (probably because I am white), but it's rather easy to detect when I really started looking. The media is full of examples, and I'm sure the issue will continue to change the way I consume it on a regular basis.

But here's a little food for thought - there's an interesting clip on the irony of white privilege from a popular speaker, Tim Wise. He uses more contemporary examples, such as Hurricane Katrina, to describe how white privilege has, in some ways, worked against whites and the idea of power.