I'm definitely one to believe there isn't a lot of diversity in media newsrooms. However, I do believe people of color, especially women of color, have made decent strides and will continue to do so.
For example, one of my most admired newswomen is Ann Curry. Until the discussion about women of color in media, though, I never thought about her being a woman of color. I only thought of her based on her journalism, which I believe people begin to miss when making the media a race issue.
The Washington Press Club Foundation put together an oral history project of women in journalism, which has firsthand accounts of women making it in the journalism business and the struggles and obstacles along the way. Although women themselves have had it a little difficult, women of color in journalism tend to have a double standard and have been left feeling like tokens or used for certain minority stories.
As our book states, white viewers tended to be more open to those newswomen who are of lighter skin minorities than darker. Coming from an all-white, small, country town, I have seen this firsthand and could be the reason why I don't see Ann Curry as non-white. Broadcast journalism is more superficial, so I don't think the issue of women of color in the media is considered really outside of broadcast. Back home, the anchors on most Cincinnati news stations are white, sometimes Asian or lighter-skinned women of color. From my experience, if women of color were apparent at all, they wouldn't be prime news anchors; they would usually be reporting on issues from the scene. Channel 12 News, for example, has very few people of color, but the anchors are usually always white.
However, I do believe the news usually doesn't make the culture, it mirrors it. I don't think seeing women of color in more media outlets is based on anything other than the culture in which we live. Until our culture changes its views, news will continue to stay the way it is.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Stereotypes and Scandals in Sports
Ask anyone about Michael Vick, and they could probably tell you about his dog fighting ring scandal before mentioning what team he now plays for in the NFL.
When you Google his name, articles still come up about the scandal, which happened years ago.
However, Google Brett Favre, and the first news articles that appear talk about the recent Monday Night Football game. That, or the ongoing discussion about whether playing this year was a good choice. You have to scroll down a ways before you come to what is the first big scandal against him: the cell phone seduction of Jets employees.
Why is this? People would probably definitely identify Favre as an NFL quarterback before citing the sex scandal. Is this an issue of race or subject? Is the subject of sex scandals just way too cliche from sports figures, or those in the spotlight in general, anymore?
Consider Favre's reputation thus far: Super Bowl-winning, Wrangler wearing family man who has made history in the NFL. He is currently the only NFL quarterback who is a grandfather. His career in the NFL is nearly unmatched by anyone else, and it's almost a joke these days talking about if he will retire or not.
How easy will it be for the media to tarnish Favre's image? I think pretty difficult. Deadspin.com, the site that broke the story of Favre by paying a certain amount of money to a third party, is relatively well-respected in the world of sports blogs, but I think ineffective of creating the hype necessary to bring Favre down. Some journalists have cited this discovery as a victory for media, but until anything is confirmed or not by Favre himself will be the only way I believe the controversy. What has journalism come to if unconfirmed stories run rampant?
Whether an issue of race or subject, it's still interesting to compare reputations of two very different NFL quarterbacks. That is, if people even consider Vick much of a respected quarterback anymore.
When you Google his name, articles still come up about the scandal, which happened years ago.
However, Google Brett Favre, and the first news articles that appear talk about the recent Monday Night Football game. That, or the ongoing discussion about whether playing this year was a good choice. You have to scroll down a ways before you come to what is the first big scandal against him: the cell phone seduction of Jets employees.
Why is this? People would probably definitely identify Favre as an NFL quarterback before citing the sex scandal. Is this an issue of race or subject? Is the subject of sex scandals just way too cliche from sports figures, or those in the spotlight in general, anymore?
Consider Favre's reputation thus far: Super Bowl-winning, Wrangler wearing family man who has made history in the NFL. He is currently the only NFL quarterback who is a grandfather. His career in the NFL is nearly unmatched by anyone else, and it's almost a joke these days talking about if he will retire or not.
How easy will it be for the media to tarnish Favre's image? I think pretty difficult. Deadspin.com, the site that broke the story of Favre by paying a certain amount of money to a third party, is relatively well-respected in the world of sports blogs, but I think ineffective of creating the hype necessary to bring Favre down. Some journalists have cited this discovery as a victory for media, but until anything is confirmed or not by Favre himself will be the only way I believe the controversy. What has journalism come to if unconfirmed stories run rampant?
Whether an issue of race or subject, it's still interesting to compare reputations of two very different NFL quarterbacks. That is, if people even consider Vick much of a respected quarterback anymore.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Discrimination by Sexual Orientation
Our recent discussion about the Rutgers University student who committed suicide after sexual relations with another man were broadcast online made me consider the GLBT community more locally.
A recent story found discrimination in an Indianapolis bakery after the owner cited moral objections to homosexuality as the reason he would not make rainbow-colored cookies for National Coming Out Day. Although this story is not nearly as serious as the student at Rutgers, this is a recent example of how our local community is not always accepting of different communities.
The incident at Rutgers raises many questions of the community's willingness to accept the GLBT population and the effectiveness of current policies in place. Any kind of discrimination should not be tolerated, and the school should have acted sooner on the first incident of its kind to handle the situation as quickly as possible. I think it's easy for most people to consider themselves not racist, but I believe one of the biggest prejudices people still have would be for the GLBT population.
I'm from a small country town in Indiana, and I know firsthand homosexual people are not very welcomed. Coming to IU, however, showed me the large support the community has. A recent opinion piece in the IDS discusses the role of the GLBT office here on campus. Although I am not part of the community myself, I do feel as if people are much more welcomed here. It's a topic from which many people try to stay away, but I believe it's the main prejudice of our century, and it's something that needs to be handled sensitively and correctly.
A recent story found discrimination in an Indianapolis bakery after the owner cited moral objections to homosexuality as the reason he would not make rainbow-colored cookies for National Coming Out Day. Although this story is not nearly as serious as the student at Rutgers, this is a recent example of how our local community is not always accepting of different communities.
The incident at Rutgers raises many questions of the community's willingness to accept the GLBT population and the effectiveness of current policies in place. Any kind of discrimination should not be tolerated, and the school should have acted sooner on the first incident of its kind to handle the situation as quickly as possible. I think it's easy for most people to consider themselves not racist, but I believe one of the biggest prejudices people still have would be for the GLBT population.
I'm from a small country town in Indiana, and I know firsthand homosexual people are not very welcomed. Coming to IU, however, showed me the large support the community has. A recent opinion piece in the IDS discusses the role of the GLBT office here on campus. Although I am not part of the community myself, I do feel as if people are much more welcomed here. It's a topic from which many people try to stay away, but I believe it's the main prejudice of our century, and it's something that needs to be handled sensitively and correctly.
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