| Description |
The news media are seen as an objective source of information. However, the news has played a major role in perpetuating stereotypes throughout the American society. Millions ofAmericans tune into the news everyday, and everyday the news media send out biased messages to the public. Our society has been greatly affected by these stereotyped messages. Our thoughts, actions and the way we treat people are largely influenced by media messages. For this paper, I focused on the nightly news broadcasts from November 29, 1997, to December 5,1997, on KUTV channel two, KTVX channel four, KSL channel five and KSTU Fox 13. I watched all the broadcasts and analyzed how the different stations each circulated stereotypes about four main categories of people: racial minorities, women, elderly, and disabled people. I analyzed these groups by watching to see if certain groups were reported with certain stories, if negative wording was used with a particular group, how each group was treated by the news stations, and if any members of the group were part of the news media. I realize that there are many more different groups than the ones I have chosen; however, these four groups were the most reported on in the week I taped the news broadcasts. Along with a literature review, my research and analysis proved that stereotypes do exist within the local Salt Lake news media. The news media are not fully responsible for this problem. The public is also responsible for supporting news stations that help perpetuate negative stereotypes. The news media are driven by ratings, and these ratings are in the hands of the audiences. Public awareness and actions will help solve the problems associated with stereotypes in the news media. |
