Local News Extra Credit Assignment

This local news assignment definitely opened my eyes to how the news is reported. I usually watch the news intently following each story reported, but rarely do I think of how and why the story is being told. I never realized how much the news effected my perceptions of people concerning race and gender and I never realized how biased a newscast can be. There are several aspects of the amount of bias that goes into the newscast. For example, the amount of violent crimes reported committed by white men are far less than the stories reported on black and Hispanic men committing the same kind of crimes. Also, crimes committed by a minority are likely to be reported more meticulously . They usually show the neighborhood of the crime, and details of the victim. Another result of my tracking of crimes reported in newscasts is that most news anchors reporting on minority committed crimes are predominately white. I honestly never thought about the race of the anchor reporting the news, and I never thought their race inhibited their abilities to report the news. I now see that race does not inhibit reporting of news, but it changes how the reporter is told to report the story.

The news and the rest of the media build perceptions on race. Sometimes the media is accurate and sometimes they are not. People have to be read between the skewed lines of the media. Everyday crimes are committed by all races, but it is up to the media to decide how they are reported. Some are reported to seem more severe and others are reported to seem less severe. There is bias in every story being told. It is up to the people watching the newscast to see the real truth behind the story the anchors telling.

News and the Media 3/27

We are living in a time where the government is dictating every aspect of the news. The government sets the agenda for all major issues considered "news". Different news corporations have different agendas based on their affiliations. I feel like this has always been the case, government propaganda has always been the responsibility of the media.

I think there is a huge need to represent more people in the media. In order to do this, we have to diversify newsrooms. Changes have to be made to be able to appeal to various races of people. Different demographics have different needs and interests when it comes to the media and it may not be possible to represent everyone through the media but an effort can be made to broaden the scope of media material.

In the beginning of the war, the media supported and urged the support of the American people. The war was portrayed as necessary and a patriotic action, rarely were negative positions of the war printed. This was fairly easy for the media due to the fact that 9-11 was fresh on the minds of many Americans and the early war effort was littered with positive visuals. The media was able to show bombing missions followed by a pep talk from President Bush. Most Americans and perhaps the media were full of emotion and spirit at this time which made the medias decisions on reporting fairly one sided.

The media played a crucial role in civil rights movement. The media allowed Americans to see the brutal actions actually taking place. Whether or not the media knew of the powerful effects it would have on history is irrelevant. The media exposed harsh realities of the times and diffused many excuses of Americans who wished to keep Americas problems out of sight and out of mind.