Media & Minorities

TV Top Shows 11/13/06-11/19/06

1. Dancing With the Stars

2. Dancing With the Stars

3. NFL Football

4. CSI

5. Desperate Housewives

6. Grey’s Anatomy

7. CSI:Miami

8. 60 minutes

9. Deal of No Deal

10. Criminal Minds

Top TV ShowsAfrican-Americans

1. Dancing With the Stars 2. Dancing With the Stars3. NFL Football4. Day Break5. CSI: Miami6. 60 Minutes7. Girlfriends8. All of Us9. Grey’s Anatomy10. Shark

1. Dancing W/ Stars

2. Dancing W/ Stars

3. NFL Football

4. CSI

5. Desperate Housewives

6. Grey’s Anatomy

7. CSI:Miami

8. 60 minutes

9. Deal of No Deal

10. Criminal Minds

1. Dancing W/ Stars

2. Dancing W/ Stars

3. NFL Football

4. Day Break

5. CSI: Miami

6. 60 Minutes

7. Girlfriends

8. All of Us

9. Grey’s Anatomy

10. Shark

"Fall Colors"Children Now Primetime Diversity Report: 2003 – 2004

Prime Time* vs. Real World

White 74% Af. Am. 18% Latino 6% Asian 1% Other/DK 2%

White 70% Af. Am. 12% Latino 12% Asian 4% Other 2%

* Opening credits characters

Conclusions

Prime time TV is a highly segregated world

8 p.m. hour least racially diverse & most segregated

10 p.m. hour most diverse

Class/status & Race People of color most often cast as

service workers, unskilled laborers or criminals

Whites & Asian/Pacific Islanders more

often professionals

Black & Latino professionals most

often law enforcement

Why does it matter?

Role-modeling

Stereotypes

Lack of compensating images

Role-Modeling Minority children tend to watch more

television than white children

Images they see can influence their attitudes & behaviors

When children see "themselves" on tv

Tells them that people like them are important

Makes them feel included

Provides role models

Stereotypes Minorities may internalize negative

media stereotypes

Children tend to accept what they

view as reality

Media stereotypes may contribute to

prejudice from others

Contributing factors

Parents & peers

Motivations for watching TV

Amount of exposure to members of minority groups

Compensating images Show members of minority groups in a

variety of ways – not just all good or bad

More accurately reflect the diversity within a group

e.g., some gay men are like Jack But others are like Will Some African-Americans are like Flavor-

Flav But others are like Dr. Burke on Grey’s

Anatomy

A Touching Personal Story

Frito Bandito

Minority magazine covers

Magazines are inherently conservative

Concern for the bottom line

Stick with old formulas

Is this a good business decision?

Halle in black & white