The Not-So-Big (?) Problem of Race in the Media

Mallory Wiggins
mallory.b.wiggins@gmail.com

Being a white female who has lived in a small, predominately, (in fact, almost completely) white community my entire life, I never saw very much ‘diversity’ in anything in which I was involved. I was never a victim of, or saw first-hand, others being victims of discrimination against their gender, race or class.

Some would say that I am lucky to not have really had to witness the difficulties that often times result from differences in race and class within an organization or community. I, however, believe that it has made my job as a journalist that much harder. I know that I do not see race in the media the same way many others see it; I have been sort of ‘sheltered’ and tend to be an optimist on the issue. Compared to many others, I know I don’t see race as being as big of a problem as others believe it to be.

Is the issue of race an issue when it comes to the news?
Of course it is. I think everyone can agree that often times minorities are not portrayed in the best light. However, I believe the media, at one time or another, portray every race in a negative light, even the majority of that community. This is just one issue that we, for some reason, like to give a lot of attention to.

Will the issue of race ever go away?
Unfortunately, at least in my opinion, no. There will always be those few ignorant people (of all races and classes) who will hate and discriminate or at least attach a certain stigma with certain people who are ‘different’ than they are. However, being optimistic, it is an area that we have improved upon.

Sure, certain representations of certain races in the media are a problem, but I definitely think we, in the U.S., are moving in the right direction. I’d like to believe that it is because people are truly becoming better people. That they’re really starting to care about each other and not the color of each other’s skin.

However, I think the fact that the minorities are becoming less of a minority and closer to outnumbering the majority has something to do with it. We are seeing the minorities grow and become more predominant and acknowledged in society, hence the presence of more minorities in the media and the election of President Obama.