Anonymous
Age: 50 and up
Main source of information: Television
Television outlet mostly consumed: NBC
This woman asked to stay anonymous but wanted to share how she felt Black women are viewed in broadcast news.
This woman is a homemaker from the Midwest and believes the news is “information, recent information good or bad that people want to get out.”
When discussing how she consumes her news, she said she watched television news primarily on a local, national and international level.
“NBC is my go-to news outlet because I believe they have the most neutral segments,” she said.
After discussing the importance of news, we talked a bit more deeply about the representation of Black women in the news. She said she sees Black women citizens in the news, just not often. She added that when they are in the news, they don’t receive the best depiction.
“I believe Black women are shown in the news, but I wouldn’t say a lot. Most of the time when I see a Black woman, I rarely see them in a high position, usually it is someone in trouble,” she said.
This woman is a mother of two and in her mid-60s, and believes the news has made immense progress, but she still doesn’t understand why Black women aren’t shown more.
“I know we have Black attorneys, educators, musicians and so much more that should be depicted more in the news. I don’t understand why they don’t recognize us much. I think it is because they want to keep Black people in general in a stereotype situation,” she said.
Again, she believes Black women are in the news media, but not shown achieving greatness.
“I feel like the lack of recognition hurts our young Black kids because they feel as if what is the use. Even when I achieve great things, I will still be stereotyped. Even if we are a lawyer and judge, doing well, the world will still see us that way,” she added.
This woman said she has even felt that she would never mount up and rise as high as the white population because that is the way our society has been wired. She said she has been depicted on the news before as living in a low-income area when in reality it was a very well-mixed community.
“I have noticed with people of color, Black women, and the news would show the poor areas, the areas that aren’t well developed, when in general it could be a mixed community. I have watched this and experienced this,” she said.
Though news outlets tried to generalize her, she said that one thing has saved and kept her from this negative way of thinking.
“I am a believer, when I come to know who I am in Christ, that has defined me. A lot of times, women as well as men get wrapped up in the way the world sees us, they begin to believe what they say rather than what God says about us,” she said with a smile on her face.
Her advice that she wanted me to share is:
“If we redeveloped our relationship with God and let Him define us and who we really are, what the world says about us wouldn’t even matter because we stand on what God says and not what the world says because that will never validate us,” she said. “I teach my kids the same way, don’t let anyone label you, know who they are and know whose they are.”
Her statement:
“As a Black woman I feel not celebrated in television news.”