Media Representations: Ethnicity

Media Representations: Ethnicity

1. Ways in which EMG are presented in the media

   • Asian- terrorism
   • Afro-Caribbean-gangs
   • Asian males/taxi driver- grooming and sex rings
   • Eastern European immigrants- benefit scroungers

2. Ethnic minorities are generally underrepresented or presented in a stereotyped or negative way in the media. There is tendency to present ethnic minorities as a problem or to associate black people with physical rather than intellectual activities. They neglect and ignore racism and the inequalities that result from it

   • Sports people who have made money due to their sport- Usain Bolt (Virgin Media), Mo Farah (Quorn), Jessica Ennis-Hill (Santander)
   • Akinti (2003) argues that TV coverage of ethnic minorities focuses on crime, aids in Africa and black underachievement. Whilst ignoring the culture and interests of a huge black audience and diverse interests. Any news is usually bad news 'seen through the eye of a white person', as with the 'male gaze'
     • E.g. Sadiq Khan- Subject to islamophobia but won due to an active audience
   • Gill (2007) argues that there is a narrow range of black women in the media
     • White stereotype for beauty ideal even though this is not what is seen as attractive by black males. White mans gaze

3. Rochdale/Rotherham sex ring- British pakistanis failed to be prosecuted linked to fear of authority being labelled racist. Girls mainly white british. Bombarded by stories- reinforce asian males in sex rings stereotype

4. Immigration reports increase- immigrants from Pakistan and Libya increase leading to moral panic- taking away from us

5. Stephen Lawrence- Black British man murdered in racially motivated attack, led to changes in attitudes of racism and the police, law and policy practice. Partially abolished double jeopardy laws.

6. Van Dijk (1991) conducted content analysis of the news and suggested that black communities are often painted in a negative light. He notes that there are 7 stereotypically negative types of news:

   • 1) Ethnic minorities as criminals
     • Black crime and violence is the most frequent issue found in media coverage of ethnic minorities. Van Dijk believes that the tabloid press frequently associated black people with crime in recent years with membership of organised gangs that push drugs and violently defend urban territories.
       • AO3: Positive representation in black rap music- talk about identifiable and motivational experiences that they have been through
       • AO3: Negative rap music that reinforces view of violence and drugs
         • Passive Audience- young black people about drugs, gangs and violence
           • Active Audience- Critical in positive and negative ways see underlying problems
   • 2) Ethnic Minorities and Moral Panics
     • Watson (2008) moral panics often result from media stereotyping of black people as potentially criminal. Example of this in 70's/80's when muggings by black people were 'sensationalised' by the media
     • Dowling (2007) supports Van Dijk by saying new stereotypes have emerged in recent years with white Eastern Europeans, being blamed for problems in Britain and things that are not true or their fault. Being blamed in the media for things such as; benefit scroungers, stealing unwanted clothes, taking British jobs, drunken driving, overcrowding churches. This had an impact on some audiences creating, confirming and reinforcing racial stereotypes by blaming EMG for problems not created by them
     • Moral panics are created by the ruling class, owners of newspapers such as Rupert Murdoch control content. They create more panics to get more viewers and therefore more money. Hegemonic curtains
     • AO2- Realists. New Right Realists- Need moral panics to stamp down hard on crime. Need zero tolerance of EMG who do not stick to British values or culture. New Left Realists- Marginalisation of EMG leads to discrimination which can then lead to violence/riots, self-fulfilling prophecy
     • AO2- Marxists- Divide and rule, scapegoat- hegemonic curtains
     • Hall- Policing the crisis. Conducted a study in the 1970's surrounding the moral panic that surrounded black men as muggers. Hall argues that some sections of right wing papers and the media colluded with the state to create a panic around the offence of mugging. Leading to labelling of young afro as criminals and a threat to the white serves an ideological purpose of turning white people against black and keep blacks WC- divide and rule. Leading to increase in policing demand in black communities- repressive laws
       • Divide and rule- divide working class, fight among eachother to turn attention from ruling class
       • Immigration seen as taking jobs away from people- diverting attention from working class
       • Repressive laws- lot more power, can now stop and search if they are suspicious
     • Effects of moral panics on the youth
       • Cultural identity- gang culture articulates the experiences of young people living in deprived areas
         • Shared experiences in rap music- help others going through the same
       • Negative role models- gang culture and black men can be role models for young people
         • Males in rap music become role models- no positive role models in deprived family types
       • Reinforcing capitalist ideology- Cashmore (1996) argues that black culture is promoted through things like rap to make money- expensive lifestyles
         • Rags to riches- if you can do it they can, encourages consumerism
   • 3) Ethnic Minorities as a Threat
     • Van Dijk(1991) suggested that a common stereotype was the idea that ethnic minorities are posing a threat to the majority white culture. the concept 'threat' is central to news values and moral panics. In recent years the greatest threats have been constructed around;
       • Immigrants- because of numbers that enter the country and impact on the job market
       • Refugees and Asylum seekers- seen as a drain on welfare and economy
       • Muslims- 9/11 led to islamophobia increased by Lee Rigby stabbing
         • Islamophobia has increased and Muslims have been stereotyped as a threat to social values and public safety because of terrorism and participation in terrorist activities.
           • Led to Muslims being labelled by the media as radical, violent, abusive, terrorists, homophobic and rapists
             • Coverage focuses on the minority of an EMG. Coverage does not have to have an ethnic descriptor. Coverage of muslims giving aid not shown
           • Goffman(1963 +1990) argues that the very word 'muslim' has become a stigmatised identity. An identity that is seen as abnormal, undesirable or demeaning and which excludes people from their full acceptance in society. Goffman argues this has contributed towards Islamophobia
             • This led to Baroness Warsi, the first ever female muslim cabinet minister in 2011 to coin the term 'fashionable islamophobia'. She argued that anti-muslim prejudice was even now accepted amongst the middle classes, whereby they have been talked about in a prejudiced, bigoted way
               • AO3: Can be argued that Sadiq Khan as London mayor is testament audiences see through rhetoric
             • News Values: Negativity- Bad news seen as more exciting and dramatic by journalists and attracting of a bigger audience. Negative stories of terrorism etc. not charity work. Narrative- Heroes and villains with a clear story; beginning, middle and end, this makes it more likely to be reported. Muslims are villains kept in p[lace by police. Hegemony- Different words are used but overall Muslims= terrorist
     • Cottle (2000) argues media representations of ethnicity encourage audiences to construct a sense of their identity by defining who 'we' are in relation to 'who' we are not, in terms of 'us' and 'them'. This means that the white majority relate to who they are in relation to the difference of others
     • AO3: Channel 4 and the Guardian often publicise the positivity that is associated with with Islam e.g. giving aid in the floods
     • Nahdi (2003) argues that the way newsgathering is now based on short 'snippets' has actually legitimised the voice of extremist Islam. These fringe groups, are given a disproportionate amount of coverage even though they only represent a small minority of the muslim population and are unacceptable to most muslims. This coverage often destroys trust amongst muslim readership audiences
   • 4) Ethnic Minorities as Abnormal
     • Sections of the British media may be guilty of creating false cultural stereotypes around the value systems and normal of other cultures. Survey by BBC in 2002 found that asian audiences were unhappy at the way that the media failed to differentiate between different asian groups which have very distinctive cultures. For example arranged marriage was often confused with 'forced' marriage
       • Arranged marriage- agree to it to be set up- legal.
       • Forced marriage- against their will- illegal
     • Ameli (2007) argues the media describes the hijab as oppressive to muslim women and inferior to western dress yet many muslim women feel liberated by the fact they are able to remain dignified and covered up
       • Westernised that full cover up segregates women- they are invisible and powerless
   • 5) Ethnic Minorities as unimportant
     • Van Dijk (1991) some sections of the media imply that young white people are more important than the non-white. News about disasters in other countries where population is non-white will be kept to a few words. A story of one white British person dying will be prioritised over the suffering of 1000's. When a black person is a victim of crime the report is kept to a minimum
     • AO2: Westminster bridge attack-Westminster Bridge attack- so much publicity but children dying in refugee camps not addressed because nobody knows what to do. Genocide and civil war is all around the world
     • AO3: Elite nations or people- focus on powerful as they are seen as more news worthy
   • 6) Ethnic Minorities as Dependent
     • The GMG (2000) found that stories about less developed countries tend to focus on 'coup-war-famine-starvation syndrome'. The implication of such stories both in newspapers and on TV, is that the problems of developing countries are the result of stupidity, tribal conflict, too many babies, laziness, corruption and unstable political regimes. Such countries are portrayed as 'depending' on the west for aid with comic relief and live aid viewed as being the only way they can survive calamities and disasters.
       • AO3: The UN, Loans and advertising are how these countries can appeal for aid without charitable events
   • 7) Ethnic Minorities as Invisible
     • Limited roles both on and off screen- In popular drama roles EMG is often very limited reflecting low status. Examples include Africans playing cleaners and Asians playing shopkeepers. Fail to demonstrate range of jobs EMG have e.g. successful business people
     • Cultural Irrelevance- Open university found that UK EMG do not relate to much of nations TV culture not identifying with strong white, middle England TV programmes. They do not fail to integrate national film and TV culture offers little space for EMG interests/identity
     • Tokenism- Ethnic minority audiences are hostile towards tokenism where TV programmes include people from EMG because they 'should'. Result of positive discrimination or equal opportunities practices by TV companies. E.g. black person in Emmerdale- despite racial profile in Yorkshire dales being white
     • Ghettoization- TV programmes dedicated to EMG and issues effectively ghettoise issues- scheduling at times on channels that ensure small audiences. White audiences unlikely to watch content and remain ignorant off EMG. Mainstream media assumes minority issues are being dealt with by minority programming so mainstream news less likely to report them
     • Neo-Marxists- support as they lead to stereotyping of EMG this therefore leads to symbolic annihilation as EMG are only shown in narrow roles. Domoralises- divide and rule

7. Changing stereotypes of ethnicity- Media stereotypes of black and other ethnic minority groups do seem to be changing. Appreciation and greater media policy commitment to ethnic minority populations, has led to an increase in more channels serving EMG communities as well as EMG portrayals in mainstream media. Abercrombie (1996) stated that there are now more black and asian actors in popular dramas and soaps; they are portrayed as appearing as routine characters in normal everyday storylines.

8. Despite obvious prejudice and stereotyping, in recent years there has been a noticeable increase in media institutions targeting minority audiences. Digital TV has enabled a variety of channels such as the BBC Asian Network and Al Jazerea to flourish