Media Representations of Society

8/11/2019 Media Representations of Society

1/11

1

Media Representation of Minorities : Patterns of Power and Inequality

Abstract

The issue of cultural bias and the legitimization of social inequality have been at

the center of the controversies surrounding media news coverage and the

representation of ethnic minorities particularly in the West. The interactions of

people from different cultures (Thomas, 2008) involve mediated forms and

practices of expression (Hodkinson , 2011) which individuals use to understand

life of a society including values, meanings, identities, traditions and norms of

behavior in the world they live in. According to Hodkinson (2011) Patterns of

wealth, power and inequality are a further core element of societies, as are social

institutions, including the apparatus of government and law, education systems,

religious organizations, commercial enterprises and smaller-scale organizational

units, such as the family. Together with established hierarchies of wealth, power

and control, such institutions form a complex set of structuresthrough which

social relations are lived out ( ibid, p.3). This paper attempts to address the

multifaceted nature of global media cultures and the need for understanding

their relationships with the various forms of media systems that tend to

emphasize on negative representationsof ethnic minorities and the legitimizationof social inequality as their normal way of covering the news.

A Social Analysis of Media Systems

Therelationship between media representations and society has a long history ofintellectual inquiry in the study of media news coverage in the socio-cultural

context.In Western media culture, David C. Thomas acknowledges, National

stereotypes might also be attributed to social dominance theory (Sidanius,1993;

Smith & Bond, 1999). Social dominance theory suggests that within every complex

society certain groups are dominant over others and enjoy a disproportionate

amount of privilege. (Thomas, 2008:80). Western media liberal thought hashave

produced media mutterings and paradoxical working practices in theiritsattempt

to Americanize the world. The First Amendment provision ensures citizensto

exercise a free press that serves as a watchdog on Government.What is


2/11


3/11

3

contentthe media- as- mirror approach is useful in reminding us that,

rather than being invented out of thin air, media content often relates closely toreal events and prevailing social trends and cultural values. Media content does

not reflect these perfectly or neutrally, however, media producers are highly

selective with respect to what they include and they present the elements they

do include in very particular ways. They do not, then, offer us a mirror but a

selective, manufactured set of representations (or re-presentations) of the world.

As Stuart Hall (1982:64) explains representation is a very different notion from

reflection. It implies the active work of selecting and presenting, of structuring

and shaping. (Hodkinson, 2011:5)

Reporting the news and the Portrayals of Ethnic Minorities and Nationalities

The concept of news reporting and the portrayals of ethnic minorities and

nationalities in US media has been a contentious subject for quite sometime.

Trends in regardsto the portrayals of minorities in media such as immigration,

terrorism and national rivalries pose new challenges as the democratic, social,

and political challenges brought by globalization continue to raise national

security and public safety concerns. In fact, a growing global tendency in the

media today is caution in exercising great freedom. In the present atmosphere of

terrorist activities, or uncertainty in personal and group safety, the ideal of press

freedom is hardly flourishing. Wars, military skirmishes, destructive incursions,

constant threats, suicide (homicide) bombings, nuclear dangers, biological andchemical attacks, and other horrors are looming on every side. (Merrill, 2009:8).

As a result, media excesses, ambiguity, and skewed media reality began to get

hold of everyday news reporting as the media encourage controversy within a

narrow range of opinion, in order to give the impression of open debate, but do

not report on news that falls outside that range.(Chomsky, 2013:

2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media bias in United States.). Under the guise of

national security and public safety, the media seem to place less emphasis on the

purely journalistic reporting of news and views with fairness and accuracy.

According to Pew research, in one of the most telling complaints, a majority

(54%) of Americans believe the news media gets in the way of society solving its

problems, while just over one-third (36%) say the news media helps society solveits problems. This is, however, an improvement over previous years: in 1994, 71%

felt the media was hindrance and in 1995, 57% felt that way. When asked the

Comment [KS2]: I think what you are

here is framing. Perhaps you need to disc

issue of framing and agenda setting (its c

cousin) and how issues are framed by the

well as companies who try to frame them

the best light.

Comment [KS3]: Im not sure this is theading for this section. This section dea

with the fallout from the publics growin

dissatisfaction with the media in general

about how news is reported and the por

ethnic minorities and nationalities

Comment [KS4]: Perhaps some citat

back up that point?


4/11

4

most important reason why they believe the media gets in the way, most

respondents in recent Pew Poll said it is too sensational or biased. Other reasonsgiven were distortion of the truth, over-emphasis on negative news, invasion of

privacy, shallowness, and a tendency to stir up problems without offering

solutions. (Pew research, 2013:2).

Cultural bias in the media, and the negative portrayals of minorities particularly in

television programming have a long history of creating negative perceptions,

beliefs and attitudes that are culturally embedded within the American public. In

a much serious note, the bias of American mass media has an international

implication when it comes to reporting foreign news and the portrayals of certain

nationalities and cultural groups (OConner, 2013). In the US Media, people use

race and gender to help identify with a person and how they should relate toothers. This way of identifying peoples characteristics is highly susceptible to

falling into stereotypes. That is why media coverage can have such a profound

effect on peoples views of other races and cultures. (Omi, 1989:1). Likewise,

DeMott acknowledges that the mass mediaplay plays a crucial role in white

Americas views of other cultures and races, and that the medias interpretation

of cultures and races is what people are shown . Sadly, however, that

interpretation is often skewed and racist.(DeMott, 2013:1).

To make matters worse, the distribution of power and social inequality in western

media are in part to be blamed by giant conglomerates that are stretching their

power around the world placing increasing emphasis on the business side ofnews. Consequently, as some argue, the concentration of media ownership by

these giant conglomerates leads to a concentration of culture and ideas-that

instead of engaging with a diversity of competing perspectives and innovative

forms of expression, populations are subject to a narrow and monolithic set of

messages. the significant concern about such patterns of ownership , argues Bob

Franklin, is that they diminish pluralism and choice, stifle diversity and empower

owners to defend and advance their economic interests and political power

(1997:207). In particular, some argue that the corporate interests of

transnationals prompt them to support right-wing, pro-capitalist political ideas

and that the content they distribute around the world can be expected to reflect

this (Bagdikian, 2004; Herman &Chomsky, 1998).

Coverage of Foreign News and Issues

Comment [KS5]: Citations?

Comment [KS6]: This sentence is not

me.


5/11

5

The Bbias in American mass media is systemic. As Louw, (2005)

contends, the news we receive about foreign places is the outcome of

multiple decisions by journalists, cameramen, editors, government

spokesmen, and political spin doctors. Those concerned with the

production of foreign news need to unpack the way journalists work;

consider how foreign correspondents are enmeshed within the

newsmaking agendas of their home organizations; grapple with how

foreign policies of home countries can impact upon the news agendas

of the journalists home organizations; understand how journalistic

stories are constructed within preexisting worldviews and discourses;plus explore the role played by journalism within the political process

(Louw, 2005; chapter 1). Such systematization of foreign news

reporting is built upon a rigorous application of a carefully devised set

of parameters, definitions, techniques, and procedures

(Hodkinson, 2011;75) designed to sway media viewers and readers.

As Hodkinson argues, the way American media report foreign places

can a have a far reaching impact on non-Americans around the world.

Because U.S. powerunderpins the new world order, the process

whereby Americans, make sense of distant places now have realconsequences for non-Americans. To great extent, Americans form

impressions of distant places, issues and events from their news media

(ibid). This is why in a globalized world, American news media continue

to depict distant places, minority races, and nationalities in a sadly

negative light (Omi, 1989). The coded terms, fair and balanced in news

reporting are used as a self-described label that television broadcasts

and newspaper outlets use to promote the perpetuation of negative

images of minority races at home, nationalities and distant places

overseas.

Silverstein (2008) better described the misconceptions behind fair and

balanced in this way. balanced coverage that plagues American


6/11

6

journalism and which leads to utterly spineless reporting with no edge.

The idea seems to be that journalists are allowed to go out to report,

but when it comes to write, we are expected to turn our brains off and

repeat the spin from both sides. God forbid we should attempt fairly

assess what we see with our own eyes. balanced is not fair, it is just an

easy way of avoiding real reporting..and shirking our responsibility to

inform readers(Siversein, 2008:108).

Transnational Media Corporations and Economic Incentives

The profit-driven questOne of the characteristics of transnationalmedia conglomeratesis the quest for profits, whichis essential for

funding most media activities that are linked to news coverage.

Jamieson and Hudson (2000) described

private U.S. media outlets as profit-driven. For the private media,

profits are dependent on viewing figures, regardless of whether the

viewers found the programs adequate or outstanding. The strong

profit-making incentive of the American media leads them to seek a

simplified format and uncontroversial position which will be adequate

for the largest possible audience. The market mechanism only rewards

media outlets based on the number of viewers who watch thoseoutlets, not by how informed the viewers are, how good the analysis is,

or how impressed the viewers are by that analysis.(McKay, Jamieson

and Hudson, 2000:20).

The recent economic downturn worldwide and its impact on transnational media

conglomerates has a ripple effect on domestic media conception here in the

United States. Network television channels that focused most often on world

news from which local channels draw their international news have suffered

serious cut backs that severely reduced their foreign bureaus and correspondents.

A study conducted by the Pew Research Center for the people and the pressrevealed that during the last decade, all three networks have slashed their

foreign bureaus and correspondents. ABC News had 17 foreign bureaus 15 years

ago. Today, it has seven. CBS has said it had similar cut back , and NBC said it


7/11

7

maintained a presence in 17 foreign sites but have significantly reduced its

overseas staff.. with so many international bureaus shutting down, it is nowonder that international news is becoming sparse (kher,2007:1).

Although as some critics contend network television channels in the U.S. focus

most often on world news that has a distinct American orientation, the sparsity of

news items in international coverage of events has an adverse effect on the

average American that has little desire to keep abreast with general knowledge

from around the world, a necessary task for understanding the relationships

between places, peoples, and cultures that give context to world events.

Contesting Global Discourses : The Forces of Globalization &

Universalization

With the current pace of change sweeping across the globe, major

contending forces are transforming our world where the challenges of

society are becoming more and more complex (Baudrillard, 2003). The

forces of globalization and universalization are pressing. More serious is

the fact that the rapid combination of international financial markets

and the development of transnational businesses have not been

matched by a corresponding development of our social, educational,

and political institutions. Globalization is about technology, themarket, tourism and information. It is first and foremost the market,

the profusion of exchanges, and of all sorts of products, the perpetual

flow of money in a world that is interconnected and globally

interdependent (Jean Baudrilled, the violence of the global, 2003

http:www.ctheory.net/text file. asp?pick=385).

In contrast, Universalization has to do with human rights, liberty,

culture, and democracy. It is a value system that originated in the West

and developed in the context of Western modernity that is unmatched

by any other culture (ibid). This value system, despite its claim of beinguniversally valid as the only viable and culturally appropriate value for

all humanity to follow, globalization brought the urge for equality


8/11

8

among nations in the exchange of goods, material wealth, and

resources through free trade marked by a new world trend

homogenization and inclusiveness(diversity) of all peoples and nations.

What this means is that, universalization is vanishing or at least

declining as the forces of globalization attempt to bring an end to one

dominant value and/ or culture over the other. Furthermore, because

of the spread of globalization and technological advances such as the

Internet, social media, and mobile communications people began to

disengage from traditional news forms seeking a much more accessible

and engaging media systems. Volkmer (1999), for example,ties global

news to an emerging world society structure. In her study of CNNInternational, she argues that global political communication constructs

a global public sphere, from which emerges global civil society. This

global platform, she says, supports the communication needs of

worldwide movements and their corresponding worldwide political

organizations. She further argues that the global public sphere is a new

political space, with the capacity to pressure national politics and

provide communication not otherwise possible on a national level

(Volkmer, 1999).

As Reese comments regarding the public sphere and spaces for politicaldiscourse, the intensification of social connections through digital

technology, the Internet, and mobile media is enabling global

connections support new forms of journalism , which create politically

significant new spaces within social systems, lead to social change, and

privilege certain forms of powerjournalism at its best contributes

to social transparency , which is at the heart of the globalization

optimists hopes for democracy (e.g. Giddens, 2000). The insertion of

these new logics into national communities, especially those closed or

tightly controlled societies, can bring an important impulse for social

change ( seen in a number of case studies from China, as in Reese and

Dai 2009) P.345). The political wind blowing across the Middle East

and North Africa is a case in point. The interconnectedness of online


9/11

9

media, cellphones, laptops and many forms of digital technology is

creating global consciousness by bringing people together to discuss a

shared set of expectations and concerns in an environment of diverse

dialog of cultures(ibid). What this mean is that, a global public sphere

is creating a global platform for worldwide movements and political

organizations in which global networks connect local settings,

bypassing official state channels, and introducing their own logic into

national spaces, including with local journalistic cultures and media

systems (ibid, 349).

The current state of journalism in a globalized world is creating newroles for journalists and journalism practice by creating new sphere and

spaces for political discourse. The new global connections support new

forms of journalism that in turn is creating politically significant new

spaces within social systems that lead to social changes worldwide. The

new global connections reflect the current social world in which we

live. Social interest in cyber space is increasing and so is the trend in the

participatory nature of society empowered by technology and social

interraction everywhere. Worldwide movements and political

organizations accelerated by unbridled technological innovation are

dramatically transforming the content and storytelling possibilities ofjournalism and other media forms. (Pavlik et al, 2013, p.5). The

political upheaval and the winds of change that we witnessed during

the social uprising in North Africa and the Middle East areis acase in

point.

References

Bagdikian, Ben (2004) & Herman & Chomsky (1998) in Hodkinson,

Paul(2011), Media, Culture & Society, Sage Publications.

Baudrilled, Jean (2003). The violent of the Global

http:www.ctheory.net/textfile.asp?pick=385


10/11

10

DeMott (1995). Bias American Mass Media,

http://www.studymode.com/essays/Bias-America-Mass Media-

102537.html.

Franklin, Bob(1997) in Hodkinson, Paul, Media, Culture and Society,

Sage Publications, 2011, p.45.

Giddens, Anthony (2000). Runaway World : How globalization is

reshaping our lives. In Stephen Reese, Journalism &Globalization, New

York : Routledge.

Hodkinson, Paul (2011). Media , Culture, and Society, Sage Publications

Kher, Anuradha (2007). The big three networks and international

coverage. Media Crrit. PEW Research.

Louw, Eric P. (2005). Reporting foreign press, Global Journalism: Topical

issues and Media Systems, Allyn & Bacon, 2009.

McKay, Jamieson and Hudson (2013). Infotainment.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media-bias_in_theUnited_States.

Merrill, John C & DE Beer ARNOLD (2009). Introduction to Global

Western Journalism theory, Global Journalism: Topical issues and

Media Systems, Allyn Bacon, 5th

edition.

Noam Chomsky (2013). Media Bias in the United States,

2http;//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media Bias in the United States.

OConner, Patrick(2005). Nonviolent Resistance in Palestine,

http://www.ifamericansknow.org/media/nonviolent.html.
http://www.studymode.com/essays/Bias-America-Mass%20Media-102537.htmlhttp://www.studymode.com/essays/Bias-America-Mass%20Media-102537.htmlhttp://www.studymode.com/essays/Bias-America-Mass%20Media-102537.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media-bias_in_thehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media-bias_in_thehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media-bias_in_thehttp://www.studymode.com/essays/Bias-America-Mass%20Media-102537.htmlhttp://www.studymode.com/essays/Bias-America-Mass%20Media-102537.html


11/11

11

Omi, Michael (1989). Bias American Mass Media,

http;//www.studymode.com/essays/Bias-American-Mass Media

102537.html.

Reese, Stephen D & Tia Dai (2009). Citizen Journalism in the Global

News Arena : Chinas New Media Critics. In Citizen Journalism; Global

perspectives, edited by Stuart Allen & Einar Thorsen, New York:Peter

Lang.

Sidanius (1993) & Bond (1999). In Thomas, David, Cross-Cultural

Management, Sage Publications. 2

nd

edition, 2008.

Siverstein, Ken (2008). Turkmeniscam: How Washington Lobbyists

Fought to Flack for a Stalinist Dictatorship. Media Bias in The United

States.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media-bias_in_the_United-States.

Thomas David C (2008). Cross-Cultural Management, Sage Publications,

2ND

edition.

Volkmer, Ingrid (2002). Journalism & Political Crises in Journalism after

September 11, edited by Barbie Zelizer and Stuart Allen. New York:Routledge.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media-bias_in_the_United-Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media-bias_in_the_United-Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media-bias_in_the_United-Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media-bias_in_the_United-States

Documents

Media Representations of Society