MASS MEDIA AND MINORITIES

1
MASS MEDIA AND MINORITIESWHAT IS MASS MEDIATED
CULTURE

• MASS MEDIA IS COMPOSED OF LARGE-SCALE
  ORGANIZATIONS THAT USE PRINT OR ELECTRONIC MEANS
  (SUCH AS RADIO, TELEVISION, OR FILM) TO
  COMMUNICATION WITH LARGE NUMBERS OF PEOPLE.

2
HOW IS CULTURE MEDIATED BY MEDIA?

• MEDIA PRESENTS US WITH INFORMATION AND IMAGES ON
  1) HOW THE WORLD IS ORGANIZED, 2) THE SOCIAL
  RELATIONS THAT PREVAIL, AND 3) ASSUMPTIONS (ABOUT
  SUCH THINGS AS MEN WOMEN, MALENESS AND
  FEMALENESS, PEOPLENESS AND PEOPLE OF COLOURNESS)
  THAT WE USE WHEN WE CONSTRUCT OUR EVERYDAY LIVES

3
MEDIA AS SOCIALIZING AGENTS

• THEY FUNCTION TO
• INFORM US ABOUT EVENTS
• INTRODUCE US TO A WIDE VARIETY OF PEOPLE
• PROVIDE AN ARRAY OF VIEWPOINTS ON CURRENT ISSUES
• THEY MAKE US AWARE OF PRODUCTS AND SERVICES (THAT
  IF WE PURCHASE THEM, SUPPOSEDLY WILL HELP US TO
  ACCEPT OTHERS), AND
• ENTERTAIN US BY PROVIDING THE OPPORTUNITY TO LIVE
  VICARIOUSLY (THROUGH OTHER PEOPLES EXPERIENCES).

4
MEDIA IMPACT ON CHILDREN

• RECENT ESTIMATES INDICATE THAT CLOSE TO 100
  PERCENT OF CANADIAN HOUSEHOLDS HAVE AT LEAST ONE
  TELEVISION. CANADIAN VIEWERS WATCH AN AVERAGE OF
  3.3 HOURS OF TELEVISION PER DAY (ADAMS, 1998).
  THIS MEANS THAT THE AVERAGE SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD WILL
  HAVE SPENT MORE TIME WATCHING TELEVISION THAN
  ATTENDING SCHOOL

5
Deconstructing The Media

• The media constitute a socially constructed
  system of technologically driven communications
  that are anything but neutral or passive in
  delivery. Media are actively involved in shaping
  messages and circulating meanings.
• Therefore media is configured by hidden
  agendas and dominant ideologies in advancing
  vested rather than common interests.
• Therefore media are not only constructed
  through human agency, they also construct
  realities by naturalizing our perception of the
  world as necessary and normal rather than
  conventional and constructed.
• Cultural frames of reference are imposed that
  define some aspects of reality as acceptable and
  others as unacceptable.
• There is a double-edged nature of media relations
  to society and society-building it informs and
  it is complicit in the information it is
  complicit in generating information (a view of
  the world) It has an assumptive reality

6
What Are Some Of The Major Assumptions (Those
Things That Go Without Saying) 

1. One is that it is not complicit in social life
   That it is merely a mirror on the world That it
   is (or can be) neutral.
2. Yet sociologists agree the commitment to
   inform and entertain is riddled with hidden
   agendas that benefit some, handicap others.
3. The media establish standards of performance,
   then fail to live up to these expectations, (in
   effect creating a disjuncture between
   expectations and reality, both at institutional
   and public levels.
4. They generate social problems by virtue of their
   existence as a big business, their status as
   discourses in defense of profit, and their role
   as an instrument of thought control in a
   democratic society.
5. By examining newscasting, tv programming,
   advertising, and internetting, the media can be
   shown to exert a negative impact by eliciting
   mixed messages at odds with the ideals of a
   progressive society.
6. This is tied to the phenomenon of "thought
   control" in my usage this refers to the
   ability to inculcate incoherent and at times
   contradictory assumptions and beliefs by the mass
   of the population.

7
THE PHENOMENON OF THOUGHT CONTROL

• IN MY USAGE THIS REFERS TO THE ABILITY TO EXERT
  UNDUE INFLUENCE
• ONE EXAMPLE REFERS TO THE INCULCATION OF
  INCOHERENT AND AT TIMES CONTRADICTORY ASSUMPTIONS
  AND BELIEFS BY THE MASS OF THE POPULATION.

8
MEDIA AND CRIME THE PROCESS OF THOUGHT CONTROL

• MOST CANADIANS LEARN ABOUT CRIME THROUGH THE
  MEDIA RATHER THAN FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE. STORIES
  ON TELEVISION AND RADIO, AND IN NEWSPAPERS,
  MAGAZINES, AND BOOKS SHAPE OUR VIEWS ABOUT CRIME
  AND CRIMINALS. HOWEVER MEDIA DO NOT SIMPLY
  REPORT THE NEWS. EDITORS AND REPORTERS SELECT
  THE CRIME NEWS WE HEAR ABOUT AND CONSTRUCT THE
  WAY IN WHICH IT IS PRESENTED.

9
Fear of crime and the mediaDoes the Matrix
have you?

• UNFORTUNATELY THE PICTURE OF CRIME WE RECEIVE
  FROM MASS MEDIA IS VERY INACCURATE.
• EX WHILE MOST CRIME IS PROPERTY CRIME, MOST
  STORIES IN THE MEDIA DEAL WITH VIOLENT CRIME.
• GABOR (1994) REVIEWED ALL THE CRIME-RELATED
  STORIES REPORTED OVER TWO MONTHS IN AN OTTAWA
  PAPER
• SEVEN PERCENT WERE VIOLENT CRIMES (THE CITY
  AVERAGED JUST SIX MURDERS PER YEAR).
• WHILE VIOLENT CRIMES WERE OVER REPORTED
  WHITE-COLLAR AND POLITICAL CRIMES WERE ALMOST
  NEVER REPORTED.
• BETWEEN 1990 AND 1996 THE HOMICIDE RATE IN CANADA
  DECLINED BY ALMOST 20 PERCENT WHILE MURDER
  COVERAGE ON CBC AND CTV NATIONAL NEWS PROGRAMS
  INCREASED BY 300 PERCENT.
• CALGARY HAD 12 MURDERS IN 1996, A YEAR THE
  CALGARY HERALD PUBLISHED 1667 MURDER-RELATED
  STORIES (NATIONAL MEDIA ARCHIVE, 1997).

10
Why does media misrepresent crime? If it bleeds
it leads

• STORIES THAT ATTRACT VIEWERS OR READERS WILL
  BOOST RATINGS AND CIRCULATION EVEN IF THESE
  STORIES DO NOT REPRESENT THE REALITY OF CRIME.
• THE INFORMAL RULE IS IF IT BLEEDS IT LEADS
  (REFLECTING THE FACT THAT THE PUBLIC ARE
  FASCINATED BY SENSATIONALIZED, BLOODY STORIES
  SUCH AS THOSE OF MASS MURDERS OR ATTACKS AGAINST
  HELPLESS SENIOR CITIZENS.)
• THE PRIMARY GOAL OF THE MEDIA IS TO MAKE PROFITS
  BY SELLING ADVERTISING.

11
WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE MEDIA
MISREPRESENTATION OF CRIME?

• CANADIANS GREATLY OVERESTIMATE THE AMOUNT OF
  VIOLENT CRIME THAT IS COMMITTED AND HAVE A FEAR
  OF CRIME THT IS MORE INTENSE THAN THE RISK OF
  VICTIMIZATION JUSTIFIES.
• .EX ONE SURVEY FOUND THAT THE VAST MAJORITY OF
  CANADIANS 75 PERCENT FELT THAT MOST CRIMES
  ARE ACCOMPANIED BY VIOLENCE, THROUGH THE TRUE
  FIGURE IS LESS THAN 10 PERCENT (DOOB AND ROBERTS,
  1983).
• DESPITE A SIGNIFICANT DROP IN CRIME THROUGHOUT
  THE 1990S AND INTO THE NEW MILLENNIUM A SURVEY
  FOUND THAT CANADIANS ARE MORE FEARFUL OF CRIME
  THAN THEY WERE IN 1991 (STATS CAN, 1998).
• OUR FEARS ARE REINFORCED BY THE GLOBAL COVERAGE
  OF VIOLENCE. TELEVISION CAN INSTANTLY BRING US
  EVENTS FROM ANYWHERE AND VIOLENT CRIMES SUCH AS
  MASS MURDERS IN AUSTRALIA AND IN SCOTLAND ARE
  REPORTED AS IMMEDIATELY AND AS INTENSELY AS IF
  THEY HAD HAPPENED IN OUR OWN COMMUNITIES.

12
CONSEQUENCES OF THE MEDIA MISREPRESENTATION OF
CRIME (CONT)

• THE MEDIA ALSO PROVIDE US WITH A DISTORTED
  STEREOTYPE OF OFFENDERS. VIOLENT CRIMES ARE MOST
  OFTEN COMMITTED BY RELATIVES, FRIENDS, AND
  ACQUAINTANCES, NOT BY ANONYMOUS STRANGERS.
• CORPORATE AND WHITE-COLLAR CRIMINALS ARE
  RESPONSIBLE FOR A GREAT DEAL OF SOCIAL HARM, BUT
  THEIR ACTIVITIES ARE RARELY RECEIVE MUCH
  ATTENTION IN MEDIA.
• THE FEAR OF CRIME AND OUR IMAGE OF THE CRIMINAL
  HAVE AN IMPACT ON GOVERNMENT POLICY TOWARD CRIME.
  ACTUAL CRIME TRENDS ARE IRRELEVANT IF THE
  PUBLIC FEELS CRIM IS OUT OF CONTROL, IT DEMANDS
  THAT GOVERNMENT DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
• WHILE CRIME RATES ARE DECLINING, A COMBINATION OF
  INCREASING MEDIA COVERAGE OF CRIME AND PRESSURE
  FROM A VARIETY OF INTEREST GROUPS HAS LED THE
  FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO TIGHTEN SEVERAL LAWS
  INCLUDING THOSE CONCERNING IMMIGRATION, YOUNG
  OFFENDERS, AND FIREARMS.

13
Marginalized Communities

• Research challenges the perception that we are
  all equally likely to be crime victims by
  revealing that the most "marginalized groups" in
  society have the greatest chance to be victimized
  by crime.
• At the same time, marginalized communities have
  pointed to the inadequate response by the state
  to their victimization people who fit the
  typical offender profile stereotype are
  "over-policed", while those who commit serious
  harms but do not hold these characteristics are
  typically "under-policed"

14
What Are There (Hidden Or Disguise)
Manifestations Of Racism In The Mass Media

• A)              INVISIBILITY OF PEOPLE OF COLOUR
  NUMEROUS STUDIES CONFIRM THAT CANADAS
  MULTICULTURAL DIVERSITY IS POORLY REFLECTED IN
  THE ADVERTISING, PROGRAMMING, AND NEWS-CASTING
  SECTORS OF POPULAR MEDIA DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN
  DECISION-MAKING.
• IN MANY CASES, PEOPLE OF COLOUR IN MEDIA ARE
  SEGREGATED ON SEPARATE SHOWS OR FORUMS IN
  OTHERS THEY ARE INTEGRATED INTO MAINSTREAM AS
  TOKENS WHO MUST ADOPT A MAINSTREAM-LIKE PERSONA.
  (BOTH ARE FORMS OF NON-ACCEPTANCE). 
• B)              STEREOTYPICAL PORTRAYALS
  EVERYWHERE IMAGES OF RACIAL MINORITIES ARE
  STEEPED IN UNFOUNDED GENERALIZATIONS THAT
  EMPHASIZE THE COMICAL OR GROTESQUE. 
• EX -- AUNT JEMIMA HAS APPEARED ON BOXES OF
  PANCAKE MIX FOR OVER 100 YEARS. (THE SMILING
  BLACK WOMAN, WHOSE HEAD USED TO BE WRAPPED IN A
  KERCHIEF REMINISCENT OF A MAMMY/SERVANT IMAGE.)
  RASTUS IS STILL THE CREAM OF WHEAT CHEF, AND
  UNCLE BEN IS THE SMILING GRANDFATHERLY BLACK MAN
  ON THE BOXES OF RICE FOR MORE THAN HALF A
  CENTURY. THESE IMAGES, CREATED DECADES AGO, ARE
  WOVEN INTO POPULAR CULTURE (AND PROMOTE WHAT SOME
  PEOPLE CALL SIMPLE-MINDED SERVANT
  STEREOTYPES).
• C)              STEREOTYPES ARE A KIND OF
  CONVENIENT SHORTHAND SIMPLIFY MEDIA PROCESS.
  MEDIA MOVERS JUST TAP INTO A POOL OF STEREOTYPES
  TO CREATE A READILY IDENTIFIABLE FRAMES (TROPES)
  THAT IMPOSE A THEMATIC COHERENCE THAT AUDIENCES
  CAN RELATE TO BECAUSE OF SHARED CULTURAL CODES.

15
MEDIA AND CULTURAL HEGEMONYHIDDEN AGENDAS AND
DOMINANT IDEOLOGIES

• REFERS TO THE SUPREMACY OF A GROUP WHICH
  MANIFESTS ITSELF IN TWO WAYS AS DOMINATION AND
  INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL LEADERSHIP (GRAMSCI, 1971
  GIROUX, 1981).
• SOCIAL SCIENTISTS BELIEVE WITH THE CHANGING FORMS
  OF DOMINATION THAT HAVE DEVELOPED IN ADVANCED
  INDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES, WITH THE RISE OF MODERN
  SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, SOCIAL CONTROL HAS BEEN
  EXERCISED LESS THROUGH THE USE OF PHYSICAL
  DETERRENTS AND INCREASINGLY THROUGH THE
  DISTRIBUTION OF AN ELABORATE SYSTEM OF NORMS AND
  IMPERATIVES.
• .THOUGHT CONTROL ON A MASS SCALE LEADS TO A
  SUBTLE AND ACCOMPLISHED SOCIAL CONTROL HERETOFORE
  NON-EXISTENT.

16
THECRIMINALBLACKMAN

• IN HER 1998 BOOK, THE COLOR OF CRIME, KATHRYN
  RUSSELL SPEAKS OF THE "CRIMINALBLACKMAN."
• THE CRIMINALBLACKMAN IS A COMPOSITE OF WHITE
  FEARS OF BLACK MENS CRIMINALITY IT MAY BECOME
  SO STRONG AND SO WIDESPREAD THAT IT ALLOWS FOR
  RACIAL HOAXES, IN WHICH A WHITE OFFENDER BLAMES
  AN AFRICAN AMERICAN, USUALLY MALE, FOR THE
  OFFENSE IN QUESTION AND IS READILY BELIEVED BY
  CRIMINAL JUSTICE AGENTS AND/OR THE GENERAL
  PUBLIC.
• EX CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF MEDIA COVERAGE
  INFLUENCES PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS OF SERIOUS CRIME AS
  LARGELY A MATTER OF RACE, REAL ESTATE
  (INCORPORATING CLASS AND AREA), AND FAMILY
  CONSTITUTION LEADING TO AN INDICTMENT OF FAILED
  MOTHERS RACIALIZED AND GENDER-IZED BY WHITE
  PATRIARCHY

17
MEDIA MITIGATES AGAINST MULTICULTURALISM

• MEDIA ACTS TO ABET DOMINATION AND INTELLECTUAL
  AND MORAL LEADERSHIP -- NORMS, VALUES, AND
  ASSUMPTIONS -- OF WHITE, MALE DOMINATED
  INSTITUTIONS.
• FINE, BUT WHAT IS THE PROBLEM? THIS CONTINUES
  TO PREVENT THE MASS MEDIA FROM FAIRLY AND
  ACCURATELY REFLECTING AND REPRESENTING THE
  MULTIRACIAL REALITY OF CANADIAN SOCIETY.
• WHITE ELITES CONTROL THE STRUCTURE AND CONTENTS
  OF THE MASS MEDIA, IT MAY BE EXPECTED THAT THE
  WHITE PRESS SHARES IN THE OVERALL SYSTEM THAT
  SUSTAINS WHITE GROUP DOMINANCE

18
THE EUROPEAN GAZE

• WHEN A NEWS STORY IS TOLD FROM A MALE,
  PARTICULARLY A EUROPEAN-NORTH-AMERICAN MALE POINT
  OF VIEW, THE STANDPOINT OF THE REPORTER OR EDITOR
  IS NOT NOTED. IT IS ASSUMED TO BE A GENERAL,
  UNBIASED, OBJECTIVE POINT OF VIEW.
• WHEN THE STORY IS TOLD FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF
  A PERSON OF COLOUR, IT IS COMMON FOR THE POINT OF
  VIEW TO BE DEEMED A "SPECIAL INTEREST" AND THE
  STANDPOINT TO BE SEEN AS "NOT OBJECTIVE." THE
  WORDS OR VIEWS ARE MODIFIED TO PRESENT THEM TO A
  EUROPEAN MALE GAZE.
• MEDIA IS COMPLICIT IN ENTRENCHING DOMINANT, OR
  "HEGEMONIC," SOCIAL PATTERNS OF WHO IS IMPORTANT,
  WHOSE WORDS ARE WORTH MORE AIR TIME, WHOSE GAZE
  IS CONSIDERED THE GAZE, WHO HAS POWER.
• YET -- IN A SOCIETY THAT CLAIMS ALL PEOPLE ARE
  INDIVIDUALS, NO ONE GROUP HAS A MONOPOLY ON
  OBJECTIVITY, AND IN ORDER TO WORK TOWARD A
  SOCIETY THAT IS TRULY FAIR AND JUST TO ALL, WE
  ALL NEED TO UNDERSTAND HOW OTHER PEOPLE PERCEIVE
  THE SOCIAL WORLD.