Racial ideology in U. S. mainstream news magazine coverage of black‐Latino interaction, 1980–1992

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Rapidly changing demographics over the past decade or so have brought blacks and Latinos into political and social conflict over scare resources. Despite the importance and implications of these conflicts for American social relations—and especially for the 52.3 million blacks and Latinos in the United States—there has been little news coverage of the conflicts and almost no research on how black‐Latino interaction is depicted in news media. Because media images of such interaction can influence the formulation of public policy and individuals’ cognition and behavior towards blacks and Latinos, it is important to begin documenting the contours of news coverage of their interaction. This study examined U.S. mainstream news magazine coverage of black‐Latino interaction between January 1980 and October 1992. Using quantitative and textual analysis, the study discovered that the coverage: (1) stereotyped black‐Latino interaction as primordial, (2) homogenized black and Latino characteristics, and (3) differentially valued the temperament and lifestyles of blacks and Latinos. Black‐Latino interaction also was presented in an ahistorical manner and structural conditions and causes for conflict were ignored. The authors argue that the coverage was structured by and reinforced racial ideology. The discussion and conclusion sections consider the implications of these portrayals for journalistic practice and race relations.

This publication has 23 references indexed in Scilit: