Last Word

The representation of race and gender within the media denote some of the most criticized aspects of different media forms. Their presence, or lack of presence, defines news mediums in terms of its progressive attitude. As a media professional, one must strive to fill in all the gaps and promote knowledge on a multicultural level. Living in the United States enables the public to share their differences and promote open debate; we are not divided by our race, religion, or political affiliation and we are able to respect each other’s differences. Thus, it is crucial to present positive images in the media and negate stereotypes that have developed. As a young journalist facing graduation with a degree in a field that might become apocalyptic, I am faced with the challenge of promoting accurate news through mediums that will reach large audiences. The ocean of knowledge provided by the World Wide Web continues to grow and cover new grounds at rates more predictable than global warming. My solution to this epidemic is to turn this information around and give it back to the people, who, through the power of word, can educate the public on correct images of race and gender within the media.

Through this class, I have learned the impact of stereotyping minorities within the media. Entire races are attributed to images that flash across screens in television series, commercials and advertisements. The issue within this begins with the fact that minorities are vastly underrepresented in the media. My concern broadens when I attempt to grasp the negative correlation that can develop when people form ideas about others based on the information that has been provided by this limited media. In attempt to negate this concept, individuals must band together to promote media forms that represent diversity. Also, on the individual level, one must seek to attain a well-balanced media meal of all their daily vitamins, or diverse groups, in order to attain an equally balanced diet.

Women are also stereotyped within the media. A beautiful face sells more than the message being represented, and for women, their sex appeal can be their biggest selling point within the media. I admire the select few women who do not sell their luscious lips for Maybelline to go alongside their political agenda. However, I do not chide the women who possess the beauty of a Greek goddess, because then I would only prove my jealousy. The unfortunate aspect of this, however, is that it provides the media with the ability to define female beauty; of which, the white model presides as highest. The whitening of a model’s face or the slimming of a woman’s thigh creates images that paint an untrue form of female beauty. These actions should not be condoned.



With that in mind, men are also stereotyped within the media. Men are seen as strong and controlling, and only recently have been allowed to shed a slight tear when a loved one dies. Homosexuals are even more stereotyped; feeding the lie that eats at the mind of straight-laced parents whose child just came out. The underrepresentation of minorities within the media relates to ALL groups, and must be addressed. When a minority group is represented by only a select few, one can only hope that the media will become more progressive and begin to accurately depict its diverse population.

Blogging is one of the newest medias form. It reaches out to niche audiences, and if adequately sourced, can present facts and ideas that maintain news value. While some lambast bloggers, referring to them as greasy, sweat-panted cave dwellers (yes, one of my professors DID use these words), I think it is because this media form is so new that people have a hard time accepting it. Print journalism dates back centuries ago, providing a solid medium for readers to pick up and hold on to. When I talk about seeking a career in online journalism, the old-folks around me say, “but I rely on the newspaper for news information.” And yes, they rightly should. For what many cannot grasp about the concept of different news mediums, is that they are all cyclical. Broadcast pulls news from the Internet, the Internet gathers content from the newspaper, and the newspaper seeks broadcast to promote immediacy. Blogs, such as “The Huffington Post,” compile news based on aggregated resources and seek to please specific audiences. Thus, the promotion of these niche sites could replace the public’s seemingly disregard for broad topic newspapers.

Hip Hop

Hip hop portrays the progression of black music. It is a culture and a lifestyle, and it is both political and informative. Hip-hop artists represent different ranges of the community. Urban dictionary has 41 different definitions for hip hop, representing the various ways hip hop affects lifestyle and culture. Many believe hip hop to be dead because the mainstream media and MTV introduce artists that do not represent the true definition of hip hop.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hip-hop

SONGS

• Blackalicious – Blazing Arrow
• Wale – Good Girls
• Lil Wyte – Oxycontin
• Spank Rock – Pu$$y
• People Under the Stairs – Acid Raindrops

VIDEOS

• Kanye West – Good Life
• Pussycat Dolls ft. Missy Elliot – Watcha Think about That
• Fugees – Ready or Not
• Young Jeezy – Put On
• Lil Wayne – Mrs. Officer

Power 103.5 plays “#1 for blazing hip hop and R&B.”
KJ 103, or 102.7, plays pop music and hip hop and rap.

SoBe utilizes hip hop culture in their commercials. In the SoBe Lizard Lake commercial the lizard ends the commercial with a grin that reveals a full grill.

Gap has a khaki commercial that features several different people dancing and break dancing while wearing khaki.



Jay-Z plugs Motorola in his song “I Just Wanna Love U,” singing, “Motorola two-way page me.”

Steve Stoute, VP of Black Music for Interscope Records, created a company called PASS that matches urban music and musicians with advertisers (The Village Voice).

Hip Hop’s presence in the media has been developed largely through the use of words created by hip hop artists and celebrities. A lot of hip hop artist’s play on words and create different ways of describing things. One example being ‘fo shizzle.’ This word is heard in movies, music, commercials, television programs, etc. Snoop Dogg coined a term that even politicians use. Another untraditional word is ‘munchies.’ Urban dictionary defines this word as a term used by people who get hungry after they smoke pot. However, munchies are now a brand of chips sold in stores and gas stations across the US.
My mom listened to heavy metal, classic rock and pop. She loved Metallica and went to one of their concerts in the 80s. She listened to a lot of Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac, who primarily sing classic rock. Lastly, she loved The Beatles, but who didn’t during the 60s and 70s?

I think that hip hop discusses a lot of the same topics that other music genres discuss. Artists rap about women, money, drugs, politics and current events, all of which can be summed up by any Police song. I think a lot of people stereotype rap and hip hop because they are uninformed. Wale’s “Good Girls” says that good girls never give it up on the first night, and Young Jeezy’s “Put On” music video portrays the current economic recession and how it affects the streets of America. A lot of artists demean women in their lyrics and music videos. However, Spank Rock and the Pussycat Dolls portray themselves in a sexual manner, proving that the harsh lyrics do not affect their sexuality.

I believe there are both sides to this issue, I think that a lot of hip hop artists parade scantily clad, beautiful women around their music video set, but I also believe there are artists who don’t discuss sex and women, like Blackalicious and the Fugees. There are two sides to every issue, and stereotyping hip hop, like stereotyping anything, can be proven false when researched. A stereotype can be a definition only if you allow others to write your views for you.

Subtle Prejudice in the Media

The Norman Transcript, Newspaper, Friday, April 3
There were 18 photos throughout the news section of the paper and only two showed people of color. One was a photo of the new International Student of the Month, the other was on the last page of the paper in a clothing advertisement.

The Oklahoman, Newspaper, Friday, April 3, 2009
There were 22 photos, one of which showed Pres. Obama; the other, his wife with the Queen of England.

JCPenney, Store Circular, 2009
The front page of the circular showed a little black girl holding a gift box. However, throughout the 191 pages of the circular, only 17 pages showed children or adults of color. Only was Asian adult was shown, and the same Asian child model was used multiple times, but was the token Asian child.

Newsweek, Weekly Magazine, March 2009
11 of the 62 pages featured only white people. Every other page represented multicultural and multiracial pictures.

Norman Living, Monthly Magazine, January 2009
The cover features an image of a Native American; however, not another Native American is shown until the cover’s feature is discussed on page 34, where yet only a painting represents Native American diversity. Interestingly, the only picture portraying a black person is shown on the next page, and is of Courtney Paris.

Southern Living, Monthly Magazine, March 2009
The magazine consists mainly of recipes, locations and gardening, without very many pictures. However, there were only two advertisements that featured African Americans. One was of a man holding cats, advertising kitty litter. The other was of a couple going on their honey moon to a romantic location.

Better Homes and Gardens, Monthly Magazine, January 2009
There were several features, quotes and recipe ideas, but they were all from white people. The only time you saw black people featured in the magazine was in the form of advertisements.

Vogue, Monthly Magazine, April 2009
The cover features Beyonce and says, “real women have curves.”



Where’s the Beef?, Wendy’s Commercial, YouTube
Three older, white women asking repeatedly, ‘where’s the beef?’

SoBe Lizard Lake Game Day, Super bowl Commercial, YouTube
There is a lot of diversity in this commercial. All of the men are athletes, and only one is white (granted there are a lot of lizards, as well).




Reflection:

This assignment has made me aware of some of the issues the media has regarding race. Every form of print media I viewed contained a form of diversity; however, the amount and the variety were extremely questionable.

The Norman Transcript portrayed a particularly low amount of diverse groups in its news edition. Norman is not the most diverse community, but for its paper to exclude every race except white people is shocking. The only article that pictured a person of color was (how cliché) an article over the International Student of the month. Besides that, the paper didn’t show another person of color until the last page, which was of an advertisement for business wear, featuring a single black woman pictured twice in different clothing.

The Oklahoman did little better than the Transcript. The entire paper left void all people of color that were not of celebrity status. The paper, which is supposed to represent all of Oklahoma, portrayed a state made up of white men and women. Michelle Obama is featured with the Queen of England in an AP photo where only half of her face is seen as she is embracing the Queen. A thumbnail picture of Pres. Obama is shown in the “Your Views” section of the newspaper, where the opinionated article discusses the contempt he feels toward Obama’s selection to speak at Notre Dame’s commencement.

Norman Living, another local circular, was very disappointing in relation to the amount of diverse races shown throughout its pages. The only African American shown was Courtney Paris, who was featured beside an events calendar highlighting OU basketball games. Native Americans, who were on the cover of the magazine, were not pictured at all except through Native American art. The article was about images of the American west and Native American art and did not reflect toward the Native American painters or their current culture. Paris’s picture was on the page following the Native American feature, grouping the two diverse groups together and leaving the rest of the magazine ‘color free.’

Newsweek is a weekly magazine that discusses international and national issues. After analyzing the magazine’s content, I found that many diverse groups were represented. Several of the media forms I viewed showed only white and black people, with very little representation of other races; however, Newsweek portrayed people from the Middle East, Spain, China and Africa, just to name a few. The magazine also tackled the controversial issue of race in American schools, noting how many people were advocating the removal and Black History Month from public schools.

I also viewed the SoBe Lizard Lake game day commercial and analyzed it for this assignment. The commercial showed four athletes, three of whom were black and one was white. The commercial was shown during the Super Bowl this January. I liked the commercial because it portrayed a white male to be the minority.

Overall, I was disappointed with the lack of diversity in print media. Many of the magazines I viewed left out different races entirely, save the advertisements. I did not find that minorities were faded into the background in advertisements, however. Every advertisement I viewed that portrayed a minority, either showed minorities by themselves or within equal distance and of the same importance with white people. Perhaps it was the mediums I viewed, but I did not notice racial stereotyping in the form of advertisements. The article assigned for March 31 is dated 1984 and 1993, so perhaps the media has moved forward slightly. I do believe that races are represented equally, but I think advertisements have slightly improved, and do not use minorities to solely provide background focus anymore.

Local News Extra Credito

I spent spring break in Springfield, MO, visiting my boyfriend who attends Drury University. Springfield is Missouri’s third largest city; with over 400,000 people and five universities there is NOT a lot to do there. Drury is in the heart of what my boyfriend coined, the ‘slum’ of Springfield. During the day there were homeless people sleeping on benches and children playing games in the school’s computer lab. Thus, I feel I must also preface by stating that Springfield’s population consists of an overwhelming white majority. Wikipedia states it to be 91.69%, to be exact.

While watching the local news in Springfield, I did not see a single reporter, news anchor or journalist of color. Not a single one. While there seemed almost an equal ratio of female to male, I couldn’t get past my shock of seeing the continuous array of white faces reporting the news to me.

Despite the large proportion of whites in Springfield, a majority of the crime covered the ‘ethnics’ on the streets. The most shocking news story I viewed was regarding gang text messages. Apparently, mass texts were received in the area warning of a potential Wal-mart shoot up. (Interestingly, I received one of those texts, myself, from a friend that lives in OKC.) The anchor provided voice-over of video showing young men walking around, high-fiving each other and smiling. The men were black and Hispanic and wore, what I suppose Springfield would consider, ‘gangster’ clothing. Surprisingly, none of the men were interviewed or were identified; yet the news story led the audience to believe the men seen were the offenders.

There were several robberies in Springfield throughout my visit, but my boyfriend assured me that they were all commonplace. The news station, in my opinion, did not represent diverse interests, nor did it portray the population accurately.

Overall, the news in Springfield discussed black robberies, black murder of a white woman, Hispanic drug violations and shoplifting, a black female’s mail fraud and one white crime. Very interesting.

News and the Media

There are six major media conglomerates that control most forms of media in the world. They consist of: Disney, News Corp, Time Warner, Viacom, Vivendi and Sony Corp. These media firms and the big wigs that run them determine the news and set the agenda within it.

The public needs a media that specifically represents different interests because, believe it or not, people are different! When only one of Chicago’s 100 news stations is owned by a person of color diversity cannot be achieved. The newsroom has to reach parity with the local community, meaning there must be an equal number of minorities in the newsroom to represent the minorities in the community.

Living in a white world with white walls and white floors can get dirty really fast. The best way to prevent that is to create an environment that allows for growth and change, without the unnecessary scrubbing to keep everything ‘white,’ if you will.

Diverse interests should be of interest to everyone, because we do not live in an undeviating world. The world is constantly evolving and changing to include people and issues of importance that pertain to the public. All news is my news. For instance, women’s issues relate to me, no matter the color of the woman afflicted, because I am female. Thus, the media should not neglect an ethnic story in order to focus on a more ‘white’ situation.

I’m not sure what can be done to increase the media’s interest in diverse topics and concerns. When only a select few control what the public views, a change can only be made when the masses lay grievance. The FCC has the ultimate power to regulate and censor content they feel is unnecessary. A public vote to alter the contingencies of that power would be the best way to change it.

The war in Iraq was initially reported with great fervor. The physical atrocities seen in New York captured a story that was real for the entire nation. As the years went by, however, and the war continued, the American people quickly forgot the grip the Middle East still held over the country. Once the red warnings of terror on every news station slipped into yellow and then green they soon erased themselves from our memories. We forgot that we still had soldiers fighting a war in the name of freedom and our country.

When thousands gathered across the nation to protest the war, their information was not shared. The New York Times didn’t even post an article when hundreds of thousands marched through Times Square. What does that suggest about the rights of public interest?

When students at Jena High School hung nooses around trees, intimidating black students, the nation was not made aware. Gay marriage has been a slow and tedious fight, but because we live in Oklahoma we cannot flip on the news and learn about it. The irony about both of these situations is that they both apply to everyone, whether you agree with the occurrence or not. Educating people has only positive affects.



The media, however, made positive leaps during the Civil Rights Movement. The press might have not always been positive, but any press is good press. Similar to events during the abolitionist movement, civil rights were widely discussed and brought to the table as important issues of political value. Politicians and the public shared an opinion that something must be done about the lack of civil liberties available for black people.

In order to set the news agenda, diversity must be discussed with importance. Black issues, Hispanic issues and Asian issues all relate to white issues. When discrimination occurs, it is the people’s duty to protect because we all live in the same world and we all have common goals of happiness.

In relation to the war, I believe the press failed miserably in providing the public with valid information. The president and his staff did not set a clear agenda, and it is the media’s job to point that out and let the public know, ‘hey, they aren’t doing their job!’

Race and Gender Stereotypes in the Media

Feb. 18 5 p.m.
New York Times
Chimp-Stimulus Cartoon
Racial Stereotypes

Feb. 22 4:00 p.m.
Legend’s Restaurant
Personal Conversation with one of the cooks
YouTube video
Gender Stereotypes

Feb. 23
The Onion
Use of ‘N-Word’ May End One Star’s Career
Video
Racial Stereotypes

Feb. 24 9:30 a.m.
Gaylord Hall Rm 1040
Classroom Experience Professor Krug
Discussing Boyd Street
Gender Stereotypes

Feb. 24 5:30 p.m.
Michigan Journal
Bikini firing was coup for sexism, NBC was wrong
Gender Stereotypes

Feb. 25 7:00 p.m.
Legend’s Restaurant
Personal Conversation with my manager and the man I was waiting on.
Discussing my future job opportunities
Gender Stereotypes

Feb. 26 10:30 p.m.
The Onion
CIA Awkwardly Debriefs Obama on Creation of Crack-Cocaine
Racial Stereotypes

Feb. 26 11:00 p.m.
Slate
How will Obama’s Presidency change Hip-Hop?
Racial Stereotypes

Feb. 27 2:30 p.m.
YouTube Video
Gary’s Mattress Commercial
Racial Stereotypes

Feb. 27 3:00 p.m.
PerezHilton.com
Just askin’: which one of the American Idol(s) contestants are gay?
Gender Stereotypes

I was not surprised by the amount of stereotyping that exists in the media. Our society feeds off of sensational news threads and scandals that engage the media. We care more about who wore what at the Oscars than the on-going battles in Gaza. Of course, I was disappointed with the vast amounts of stereotyping done publicly, but I am aware that stereotypes exist and that our society exonerates them.

I was shocked on the 18th, when I stumbled across the NYT cartoon image of a shot and bloody monkey that represented the new stimulus package. There was one episode of Family Guy were Brian cracked a joke about something being lamer than FDR’s legs and no one laughed. His response was, “uh, sorry guys, was it too soon?” Same thing goes with the cartoon. However, the media did such an excellent job of satirizing black people as apes in earlier decades (please catch my sarcasm) that an image like the one NYT published should never be acceptable.

I read a lot of satirical news on The Onion and Slate. This week, The Onion posted a video about a porn star using the n-word while filming a shot. The video explored the controversy of the word, relating it socially with many different groups of people. The irony behind the video was that she was having sex while she said it…Thus all who watched it and were interviewed were ‘masturbators’ or ‘adult video clerks’, etc. The point behind the video was that no one likes that word and it is inappropriate to use in all circumstances. I just appreciated that The Onion could use a humorous medium to express that fact.

THIS VIDEO CONTAINS EXPLICIT LANGUAGE THAT IS UNSUITABLE FOR CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 18 AND ALL THAT BUSINESS.

Use Of 'N-Word' May End Porn Star's Career

When I received the blunt end of gender stereotypes this week I was made to feel…uncomfortable, to say the least. On Sunday, I experienced it when one of the cooks at work insisted that I watch this YouTube video because “it’s so cute and I know you’ll love it.” The video was of a cat. Sleeping. Doing cute cat stuff. Now my question is, would he have insisted that I watch this video if I were male? Probably not, but the video was cute and I’m good friends with the cook, so all is well.

The second time I was stereotyped at work was by my manager. I was discussing law school with one of my regulars who is a lawyer. We were talking about the subject casually, expanding upon the LSAT and court lawyers, etc. Suddenly my manager popped by my side to step into the conversation and say “Ooh, yea! You should be a lawyer, you would look hot dressed up like one with a bun or something? Or maybe you should be a cop, you know, carry one of those sticks around. I would definitely stop for you.” I was disgusted and embarrassed. If I were a lawyer, it would NOT be because I looked hot. Yet that is how he viewed me, as something to look at, not the brain with which my being is created.

The media has the ability to shape individual and societal views on race and gender. Children are raised by the media and unfortunately this is what they see. The YouTube video of Gary’s Mattress Commercial showed Gary dressed up as an Asian, wearing a rice hat (sorry if that’s a racist term, I don’t know what else to call it) and saying ‘we have rearry row prices! Come on ova!’ He wore a Jewish hat and said ‘even I would buy this.’ He was trying to be funny, but it was the stupidity of the act that was most humorous. The cultivation of images in the media affects perspectives and leads people to think that is what they are really like…

BIG 12 Race Based Admission

Iowa State - NO
Kansas State - NO
University of CO - NO
University of Kansas - NO
University of MO - NO
OSU - NO
Texas A&M - NO

I was surprised to find that all the universities I spoke with said they did not have race based admission. I called each school and spoke to an admission's officer personally and, interestingly, I had to explain what race based admission was to over half of the people I talked to.