The lack of Blackness may be contributing factor in diversity issues

I wanted to see what the contributing factor could possible be to the lack of diversity and the type of coverage Blacks get in the media industry and what I found was expected, but still low. I discovered that there are only roughly 240 black-owned radio stations operating across the country.  African Americans make up almost 13% of the U.S. population but only own less than 1% of the country's television stations. This is a sad number. I think that this in part is the reason for the lack of and over representation of African-Americans in the media.

I think that the reason that Blacks are viewed in a particular manner is because there is someone that is not Black determining what the think it means to be Black. I think that this is a direct effect of the lack of ownership in media. If Blacks owned more television shows and stations, they should be able to give better programming and representation of Blacks.

I also argue that BET does not adequately show Blacks and that some of the things they display has a negative effect on how Blacks should and wish to be viewed. I honestly don't consider BET to be a real station because of their content. They do not show images and programming that I feel appeals to certain demographics within the Black community and I feel like their programming in some way gives a negative connotation of how Blacks act and live.

I also feel that the media only shows black imagery in news stories to where the suspect is possibly Black or if the story is in a low income area. I think they use over sensationalism when they cover stories in these areas and they also use a lot of framing to make it seem as if this is all there is to the Black community and that isn't true. We are not all low income families and we are not all criminals and uneducated. Part of the problem is that we do not demand better therefore they think it is okay to show these images.

Black entertainment is suffering because we do not whole our entertainers accountable for the content they put out there and we do not demand that the stations give us better programming options. I don't want anyone to see that this is a black/ white issue because it is more than that. This is a diversity issue, I am just focusing on the Black aspect because I am Black myself.

I ask that you all weigh in on this topic and give your opinions and statements regarding diversity in programming and the media as a whole.

Let the Framing begin...

Blacks have been an overly represented people in the news when it comes to negative coverage but under represented when it comes to positive publicity. It is my opinion, that the media portrays images of blacks that do no necessarily represent the majority.

When I watch the news I am both baffled and embarrased by how blacks are portrayed in the news. Is it just me or does the news seem to get the most ghetto person to speak for the majority. When there is a crime being committed they show mugshots, interview people in the family and go to the neighborhoods.

If you are going to depict this type of imagery for one race, it should be for all races. I feel like symbolic inilation takes place because each race is not represented equally, therefore one race gets more coverage than they should over the other race whether negative or positive. It is also my observation that hispanics receive the same stereotypical framing as blacks. The imagery portrayed makes it seem as if both races are ghetto and live poorly when this is not the case.

In a way, I don't blame the media because they are portraying what we think is news, therefore I feel we must change our thinking and hold news to a higher standard instead of allowing this type of imagery to be seen on a daily basis.

One image that was very popular that I thought was a mess was when this guy tried to break in a house and rape this girl and her brother ran in on the guy, this became a youtube phenomenom and he became an overnight celebrity.
This is the original news story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZKXAFqdlC4&feature=related

This is the youtube edited version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMtZfW2z9dw

This is the post interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hdC16-cTQ0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og5znBpNEh8&feature=fvw

Here are some more links from different media outlets so that you are able to decide if you agree with me or disagree with me...all feedback is welcome and wanted.

wjtv 12

wjtv 12-2

wjtv 3

Juan Williams Fired...Stupidity Was The Reason

I know by now everyone has heard about Juan Williams being fired, so I don't need to elaborate on what happened, however, I will elaborate on why he was fired and you may comment on it if you choose whether you agree with me or not.


Williams was fired not because he was a black journalist who said the wrong thing, I think race had nothing to do with this incident. I think his repeated violations of NPR's warnings was the reason. Furthermore, I believe his affiliation with Fox played a part in him being fired.


The question that comes to mind for me is, "What ever happened to being unbias and fair as a journalist?" What he said may have been taken out of content, I'm not disputing that, however he is a journalist and he should have never made the comment.


Everybody is getting mad at NPR, but would you have been mad if he had been white and had said he fear blacks? No you would have been mad at him and demanded he be fired. I think NPR did what they had to do to protect the integrity of their station and if I were in their shoes, I would have fired him also.


In media, their should be boundaries you do not cross and things you do not say, this was just a wake up call to all of these so called journalists that think their opinion  matters. In journalism you have no opinion, so therefore you don't say anything that is offensive to others, even if it is something that most people think. Had he had some facts to back up what he said, I would have been mad at NPR, but since this was a stupid comment made by a stupid man, I say you get what you dish!

UPDATE:
OK, I new Jessie Jackson was going to get involved in this situation. This is another chance for him to get in the spotlight and steal it from the real issue. I don't know about you, but why is it that he is worried about Juan Williams and he has yet to speak up about the Scott Sisters life sentence for robbery when no one was hurt in that robbery. I know this is another issue, but it seems to me that he only get involved in high profile situations so that he can use big words and the race card. As an African American, I am sick of the race card being used every time he gives a speech. One of these days it will  be a race issue and no one will care because he overused it! 


Jackson talks about freedom of speech, but as a journalist it is my opinion that you don't have freedom of speech because your freedom was purchased by the company that employs you. I feel like journalists should never state opinions, unless they are backed by facts because they are viewed as fair and impartial. Also, his comparison to the issue with Shirley Sherrod. That was totally different. Her firing was wrongful because they edited her words to make a statement that she did not say, however, Juan Williams said what he meant to say, so he should suffer the consequences.


His comment about freedom of speech is totally wrong and does not apply to this situation because journalist are not free to speak their minds because they are the voice of the people to the people. I also feel that this race card thing is too controversial and overrated. He could have came up with other reasons why NPR was out of place for firing Williams. Now he makes others think that we will always say our race is the reason something happens to us. This creates another negative typecast added to African Americans.

Started Way Back When with Gimme a Break

Gimme a Break was a very popular show from 1981-1987. I watched it religiously with my family, because it was one of the very few shows that actually had an African American as somewhat of a leading role. The show was about this black woman named Nell Harper, played by Nell Carter, as a housekeeping for this white police chief, who is a widower.  The police chief has three children that Nell sees after and takes care of because of a promise she made to the late wife of the police chief. During this time, you didn't see many films in which blacks played roles that were not very stereotypical, this show displayed a role that was usual during that time, however it did not show a role of a black person being ignorant or obscene as in previous shows during the seventies and early eighties. The message this show gave was it was typical for a black women to take care of white families. During this time, I lived with my grandmother and her job was to clean houses for various white families during the week. The job did not have any benefits and she would usually come home too tired to cook and clean her own house. This show was very realistic to the views of blacks as the sort of caretaker and cleaner for the upper-classed white people. They were not expected to be successful blacks in professional settings and it showed in the imagery on television. Also, during this time, the images of black women were usually of fat black women, women with large hips, short hair, big breast. Most of the images during this time were stereotypical images of a thick, full figured women, even though black women come in other sizes. Some other stereotypes you see in this depiction is that of a not so educated woman, a loud mouthed black woman, very opinionated, nagging and someone who bickers or talks about her friends. Included in this discussion is links for this particular show, I invite you to view the suggested clips or add clips of your own. I also ask that you comment and enter in a discussion with me and lets see whether or not the images have changed, still the same or are the worse than they were doing that time. I would also like for you to include other shows that aired during the seventies and eighties in which the image portrayed were deemed offensive or stereotypical roles of both the black male and black woman.
You may include shows in which they are:
-living in the ghetto
-a maid
-dating multiple partners
-doing stupid things
-single mother 
-drug addicts
-loud mouths
-fat women
-nasty
-or any other role in which the character does not depict blacks in the proper manner




Links:
Nell with the doo wopp girls


Breakdown part 1


valentine part 4

Now You See Black, Now You Don't

Recently, the Los Angeles Times printed an article titled, No black-and-white answer for the lack of diversity on television. The article was about a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Comcast's proposed takeover of NBC Universal. What started out as a discussion on whether Comcast should be allowed to take over this network at all, turned into an all out race battle. The issue raised by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) was the lack of television shows aimed at minority viewers and particularly black viewers. Even though the issue was very relevant, it still did not address the underlying concern, which was the Comcast takeover. Instead, the story became about race whether than possible antitrust violations. But since Water's opened the flood gates, let's explore programming on television today!


Programming today does lack diversity, however, blacks are not the only ones underrepresented. Most television shows today doesn't portray true images of the majority. What I mean is that television does not display how diverse we really are. It does not display the many sizes, colors and personalities of the American people.


When I read the comments made on the article, I was disgusted and embarrassed because it is so sad that we still have not gotten past race. Everything always seems to evolve around the color of one's skin, why does it not evolve around skill? While there are a lot of talented minorities who are not casted in roles because they are not "white," it's not that actor/actress fault that they received the role. The fault lies with us and those writing the scripts. We support these television shows that do not properly represent us, we support shows that do not display real talent so therefore, we are to blame.


I also read how "blacks" have their own television stations such as BET and Centric. Seriously, BET and Centric does not represent the majority of African Americans. In my opinion, it demoralizes us. BET does not show traditional black shows like, The Cosby Show which epitomize what African Americans aspire to be. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Girlfriends, Family Matters and other shows that showed successful African American families. Instead, we are typecasts in movies like Baby Boy, which shows a black woman struggling to make ends meet, living in low income apartments and dealing with a cheating baby daddy. Shows such as Everybody Hates Chris which shows poor black people living in the ghetto. I want to see shows where blacks are successful.


Finally, I want to see shows that shows full figures women and men, dark skinned people, etc. Most shows you see on TV that do show blacks, they are sticking out like a sore thumb. Most of the shows has one or two blacks at the most. There are more talented blacks that those same few that are casted. Also, most shows that do display positive blacks are either obsolete or they are cut after only a year or two such as The Game, Lincoln Heights, Girlfriends, Bernie Mac Show and My Wife and Kids. We need to be able to choose what we watch instead of having to pay for shows we don't like.

check out original story:

 http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2010/06/diversity-television.html


Any comments and examples related to this blog is welcome. I want to create dialogue and hopefully a great discussion on the topic.  Thanks!

Stereotypes: What are they and where do they exist!

According to dictionary.com: A stereotype is a simplified and standardized conception or image invested with special meaning and held in common by members of a group.

Stereotypes are created from perception. Stereotypes are created by society. What I mean by this is: we learn stereotypes from our parents, spouses and the media. Stereotypes come from social learning theory, which basically says that we learn stereotypes socially. Stereotypes come from our own thinking and because we have a thought of how things should be, we tend to group things into categories, therefore we create our own perceptions.  Basically, we create certain qualities (sterotypes) that we assign so that we don't have to think about things or people on an individual basis but rather collectively. This is our own sense of security which allows us to feel good about ourselves because we have created our own little box of how everything is supposed to operate. Through these perceptions, we allow others to dictate how we think and what we think of others. Stereotypes are not always negative, however, most are.

There are many different types of stereotypes whether they are based on sex,race, gender religion, country or social standing. All stereotypes are generalizations about a person, but don't get it confused, all generalizations are not stereotypes. Not all stereotypes are bad, but in a way they both do harm. Stereotypes are said to be based on truths about , the problem comes when it is suggested that a certain group is prone to a certain behavior as if they are born into this particular behavior or stereotype about them.For example, if I say all Asians are good at math. This is a positive stereotype but it is still harmful because I have classified one race of people as being good at math, but what if they aren't good at math? They are forced to live with a perception of them and some even try to live up to this perception. An example of a negative stereotype is all black men are lazy. This stereotype just classified one group of people and it isn't necessarily true. Not all black men are lazy but if the majority thinks this, then this is the perception everyone will believe because society has said all black men are lazy. Below are a few more examples of stereotypes, both negative and positive:

• She is seductive. This is a stereotype that states that a woman is seductive, even though she may not be seductive, but because it is said she is seductive she has just been stereotyped.

• Men are better at sports than women. This is a stereotype that states that a man is more physically fit than a woman, therefore they are stronger than women, which in turn makes them better at sports than women.

• Muslims are terrorist. Because of the 9-11incident and other terrorist activities, we have placed all muslims from a foreign country into the terrorist category.

• All asians do nails. The stereotype is that all asians do is nails and feet. We have stereotyped them as great manicurist and pedicurists and we only look at them as only owning nail shops.

I have outlined for you what I think a stereotype is, however, I would like everyone to give me their input on this subject. Feel free to leave a comment, list other stereotypes or ask a question.

For more information, visit these sites:

 https://www.msu.edu/course/psy/442/stereotypes.ppt/sld008.htm

http://racerelations.about.com/od/understandingrac1/a/WhatIsaStereotype.htm