OVERVIEW

The challenges, limitations and barriers at the government, education, community or economy can help one better understand racism and discrimination in society. However, there is a significant perception, attitude and understanding around racism solely connected to the power and influence of media. Hollywood, movies, television programming and online access have facilitated the stigmatization and discrimination of many racial minorities for many years since their existence. Often these outlets are only viewed as sources of entertainment or as a means to receive information, news or updates on sports. The media serves as a platform that is actively shaping, influencing and dictating the course of racism and discrimination across the world. It is by actively dissecting and understanding the significance of the media that one can even attempt to tackle the issues around racism and discrimination. Module 4 will look to uncover some of the challenges, limitations and barriers that the media holds in helping facilitate racism and discrimination in society.

LEARNING GOALS

Deconstruct the statistical bias and recognize the difference between factual and opinion based media.
Understand the relationship of the media in constructing discriminatory identities or narratives within society.

ASSOCIATED ISSUES

MINORITY MISREPRESENTATION

Movies, television and theatre are all characterized as different forms of entertainment, however, the reality is they serve as a tool to help reinforce, construct and propagate stereotypes that only suppress a multitude of minorities, races, ethnicities and diverse populations in the name of entertainment. People seek familiarity and relatability to the characters portrayed in the media or programming consumed, the connection with the individuals on the screen is what allows for engagement from a viewer and audience (Syed, 2016). The statistical lack of representation or stereotypical misrepresentation of minorities can have negative implications on the many audiences that do not fit within the preferred targeted audience. This is shocking considering the statistical make up of the United States caucasian population is only 37%, yet their roles within media and film account for over 70% of content produced in North America (Yuen, 2016).

MINORITY ROLES IN FILMS, MEDIA, TELEVISION AND HOLLYWOOD

The media often looks to box in characters and ensure they fit into the preconstructed narratives in society, even if that narrative is offensive or aiding in fuelling discrimination or bias. Actors' roles are constructed with social perceptions and attitudes in mind and what directors or producers feel will be consumed by audiences, regardless of the social ramifications.

One example of such a callous disregard of stereotypical bigotry and discrimination lies in the roles commonly associated with Asian or black actors. These roles tend to hold stereotypical identities that serve to negatively impact individuals from persons of those communities. The most popularized roles for Asian actors tend to be in roles of docile characters that have nerdy attributes, are academically gifted in mathematics and science, or are associated in roles with martial arts. The role of black actors is often in the form of comedic relief, as historically racism with blackface during early theatre compounded the notion that black people being associated with comedic relief or used in scenarios to elicit humour from an audience. Another use of the black actor within the realm of media, Hollywood and television is within the context of strong athletes, gang or thug-like behaviour, or at times even used in the common role of the black character that is "not too black", meaning they exemplify characteristics or traits that do not fit into the stereotypical context of what is determined to be black identity by the media (Hughey, 2009).

These types of roles only help facilitate the negative stereotypes associated with ethnic minorities and can have huge ramifications on the viewers of this content. As a result, black children tend to display higher rates of depression and struggle with positive self-esteem and identity-related issues (Allen & Hatchett, 1986). Many persons of black communities have mentioned how a lack of positive representation in the media is a reason for a heightened sense of racism and discrimination solely based on this concept of media and entertainment. However, they are not the only minority group that feels this lack of representation by the media. Even when looking at the model minority myth, similar challenges for Asian students are prevalent who struggle to step outside the realm of mathematics and science within learning, as they seldom viewed as being creative or artistically capable (Deo, et al, 2008). As a result, a lot of pressure is placed on Asian students who genuinely do struggle in the classroom with subjects like mathematics or science.

STATISTICAL MISREPRESENTATION

There is a stark statistical correlation with the population versus the content displayed. Within the United States only 37% of the population is caucasian yet nearly 70-80% of all programming contains positive representation of caucasian characters (Yuen, 2016). This comes at the exclusion of non-caucaisn characters with television, hollywood or media programming. When these characters are cast or placed into media roles it is at the expense of protecting the dominant ideologies and further enforcing negative stereotypes and imagery.

RECOGNITION, AWARDS AND OSCARS

The recognition, appreciation and value of actors that shape the popular culture, entertainment and perceptions of what one values in society is to be heavily rooted in racial messaging that only perpetuates a racist overtone and bias. Among black actors that won awards or Oscars in Hollywood, the only ones recognized or nominated were selected from a role that fit a preexisting stereotype or perception around black people in society. The category of the struggling black male, or the impoverished black actor in a low-income community tends to achieve the highest statistical success in the potential consideration of an Oscar or Academy Awards (Syed, 2016). This statistic is both alarming and concerning due to the perception it portrays around black communities. Similarly, representation that is often viewed as seemingly positive or well-intentioned, as the stereotype present for black actors to the athletes. The athlete who preserves obstacles to achieve success, education or financial stability. However, this story of athletic perseverance and ability only helps facilitate the notion that all black people are meant to possess physically strong attributes, characteristics or abilities within the realm of physical activity. The idea of black persons possessing physical strength stems from the notion of slavery where black people were only viewed as valuable for their physical labour and contributions to society. This association to physical strength implicitly fuels the bias and notion that individuals or persons from black communities cannot be perceived by audiences as being highly intelligent characters, academics or possessing strong mental faculties. This selective representation only compounds the notion and creates a narrative that is dangerous, harmful and false in limiting the potential for academic advancement, growth and development amongst black communities.

JOURNALISM, MEDIA AND NEWS BIAS

Coded and loaded language is even found within journalism and new sources that are meant to be objective. In analyzing the language used in media sources in the table below, research indicates a clear lack of association with positive imagery and non-caucasian figures even for similar actions. With the word, "Hero" being associated with persons of "White" colour 74% f the time and other minorities being almost non-existent (Frisby, 2017). Similarly, with negative actions in society, such as theft, murder or terrorist, "White" persons fared far better with more relatable stores, and justifications of their actions with mental health, rather than minorities who were deemed as characteristic of the behaviour or action that they had committed. It is as a result important to understand the use of language in journalism and how word association, imagery and even constructed context around a story can help fuel racism and discriminatory ideologies in society.

Table source (Frisby, 2017).

RECOMMENDATIONS AND SOLUTIONS

Individual Self
At an individual level, people need to be aware of the biases that facilitate racism and discrimination through the media. Learning to be aware of the connections to identities, language and persons of colour and what information is being relayed through the media is an important skill for people to have in today's modern that is so heavily engaged in the consumption of technology and media.

Learning to ask questions as to why certain characters in the media are depicted within a context or displaying particular behaviours, attributes or characteristics?
Understanding what language is used when referring to or with people of colour or viewing the conversations around persons of colour in the media?
Identifying the source of the media and where the information comes from. Learning to ask what is bias, agenda or even the reasoning behind the representation of the persons of colour?

Accountability

A higher degree of accountability needs to be placed on the media and their ability to continually control, perpetuate and profit of stereotypes, constructed narratives and minority misrepresentation in the media. People need to boycott programming that is financially benefiting from the direct racism and discrimination of minorities within society. Actors, producers and human rights groups need to hold media corporations far more accountable and learn to advocate for more equitable and fair representation in the media.

Educators and Parents

Educators and parents need to engage in conversations of racism, discrimination and identity within the media early with their students or children due to the high volume of children's increased levels of screen time and usage. The high exposure to the media in school and at home is something that needs to be addressed with as much seriousness and care as substance abuse, healthy eating and mental health. The ability of the media to mislead and misinform the public is strong and the responsibility lies on educators and parents to ensure that today's children are equipped with the tools on how to be mindful of their media usage and consumption. Ensuring children's identities, self-worth, confidence and mental health are not negatively affected by the psychological programming, social conditioning and brainwashing that occurs through the media constantly.

VIDEOS

Noam Chomsky Chomsky is a historian, social critic, and political activist shares what he believes are the five filters on which the media operates in relaying content and information. The five filters of: ownership, advertising, the media elite, flak and the common enemy.

Actor, artist and music producer Ice Cube shares his honest insights on the bias found with the challenges in marketing around black films that he has seen over the course of his career in Hollywood. This is one small snippet from a segement on American Race: Racism in Hollywood.

A similar heartbreaking tragedy in two different parts of the world, one in Ankara and another in Brussels, yet the a shockingly different reactions in the broadcasting and documentation of both incidents as reported through the media; questioning the issue of Western media bias.

Meghan Gupta shares her honest findings on the selective media bias with the coverage provided on incidents that take place in "white" Western countries, as opposed to non-Western communities and countries. Gupta questions the nature of coverage in this eye-opening TedTalk.