About
Throughout the centuries, Black people have faced many challenges in the United States and are still facing many of the same issues today. These challenges may look different from those in the early 1900s, but they still have an enormous impact.
The news media has a huge space in society and draws public attention easily and quickly. This website digs deeper into the minds of those directly affected and includes extensive research for more comprehension of some of those challenges.
In this study, those directly affected are Black women.
The purpose of this project is to give Black women an opportunity to express how they feel the media depicts them or if there is enough representation of Black women at all.
Discrimination and implicit biases have negatively affected Black women, and they feel as if they get the brunt of the ramifications. The patterns are so familiar that society has become oblivious to the adverse effects it is having on our Black women.
Why is it that Black women are underrepresented in the news when doing positive things, but overrepresented when it comes to being sexualized, on welfare, a single mother, angry, “ghetto,” and more. “Ghetto” has different meanings, but in a Black woman's case it is a proxy for living in poverty.
Lack of news media representation includes when viewers don’t see any or enough stories of this marginalized group. For example, if a young girl never sees a successful Black woman in the news, will she feel good enough about herself?
Proper representation, means a more diverse and inclusive style of reporting. The news media should report the truth, and news coverage should highlight success stories too.
The main question for this project is: “How do Black women feel they are portrayed in television legacy news outlets in the United States?”
African American versus Black
What is the correct terminology? Why am I using the “Black” as their racial identity rather than “African American?”
Black and African American aren't always interchangeable. It is time to open this conversation and recognize that all Black people are not African American. This conversation has become more prominent since the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. People, regardless of race and ethnicity tend to switch the two, whether they are trying to be polite or politically correct. However, many Black people prefer the term Black because their lineage doesn’t trace back to Africa. Racial identity is up to the individual, but I chose to use the term Black because it is an identity, and it is also used when people do not know the specifics of where they come from. I use “Black women,” because I sought information from people who referred to themselves as Black.
What is a legacy news outlet?
In short, a legacy news outlet is a mass media institution that predominated before the Information Age. This is also known as the Computer Age. This is when technology began to revolutionize the media atmosphere. According to the Pew Research Center, a legacy news outlet is a news organization that was not born on the web, including print newspapers, television and radio broadcasting organizations. Legacy news is traditional media.
American Broadcasting Company (ABC):
ABC launched as a radio network in 1943 and extended its operation to television just 5 years later. ABC is considered one of the “Big Three” American television networks. Its headquarters are in Burbank, California, and New York City.
Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS):
CBS was established by Arthur Judson in 1927 under the name United Independent Broadcasters, Inc. The name changed a year later to CBS. It is considered one of the “Big Three” American television networks and is often referred to as the Eye Network because of its logo. The network’s headquarters are in New York City.
Fox Broadcasting Company (FOX):
The Fox company was founded in 1986 by Rupert Murdoch and its headquarters are in New York City. However, the cable television news and political commentary arm of the company launched in 1996. Murdoch wanted to expand his television market and attempted to purchase the 24-hour cable news network known as CNN. This failed, so Murdoch created his own cable news channel.
National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC):
NBC is the oldest broadcast network in the United States. It originated in 1926 with headquarters in New York City. NBC is considered one of the “Big Three” American television networks. The peacock style logo was introduced in 1956 to promote the company’s innovations in early color broadcasting.
Cable News Network (CNN):
CNN is a multinational cable news channel with its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. CNN was founded in 1980 by Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld. It was the first television channel to provide 24-hour news coverage and the first all-news television channel in the United States.
Positive vs Negative Portrayal
Positive portrayal accurately shows who the person is. It gives them a sense of pride, personality and highlights their character. It doesn’t generalize an individual based on race, religion, gender and other factors. It looks at the way someone carries themself. There are no preconceived judgments.
On the other hand, negative portrayal contradicts the person’s character and what they stand for. It perpetuates stereotypes—and in this study it perpetuates racial stereotypes such as: Black women are angry, aggressive, man-like, poor, single mothers, uneducated, ghetto and overly sexualized. Negative portrayals give unfavorable characterizations that are not always accurate.
About the author:
"Representation is problematic in a race conscious culture," (Entman, 1994).
I am Lea Mitchell, a Michigan State graduate student. "Images Matter" is a project in which I studied previous research and conducted my own experiment. The purpose of this initiative is to bring awareness to how Black women believe they are portrayed in television news—specifically, legacy news outlets. I am passionate about diversity and inclusion, which is why I chose this topic. I wanted to give a voice to Black women who are oftentimes overlooked. I wanted to also hold news outlets accountable. The mission of this project is to educate viewers that we all carry implicit biases, and we all must become aware of these biases, remove these misformulated opinions, and educate ourselves.
Images Matter
