Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Open eyes will find a diverse world

Shawna Polivka
SP102706@ohio.edu

 
Beyond news on crime, I do not think journalists are doing a good job at incorporating minorities into media. When I think of the last time I saw a minority in the news, it was in a negative light. According to the article, “Making the Business Case for Diversity to Broadcasters,” about half of the US population will be non-Hispanic white in the year 2050. Therefore, aren’t these minorities doing other newsworthy things besides crime?

As a whole, I think Ohio University does a great job of trying to enroll students from all cultures as can be found at its Institutional Research Web site . When I sit in my classrooms at Scripps however, I can’t help but to notice that there are rarely any minorities in my class. In advertising, I cannot think of anyone, to be honest. Yes, I think admissions can change that, but from this I can only learn. I think Scripps does a very good job of trying to keep a multicultural feel to its classes such as the International and Cross Cultural class I took with Professor Cheng in the winter. 

It was in that class that my eyes were opened to a whole new world of advertising. I was introduced to one particular advertising company called Tapestry. This agency focuses on marketing to minorities across the country. I learned that major US cities already have populations that include more minorities than whites. It would not be wise to target whites in Los Angeles. Latinos and Hispanics make up 46.5% of its population. As a result, this agency does a lot of target marketing, which involves focusing on specific cities and regions.

Tapestry looks at the differences in values between ethnicities, which can involve anything from family values to personality traits. For example, beauty and perfumes are important to Hispanic women. The agency helped its client, Secret by Proctor and Gamble, incorporate the scent sprays it was promoting into novelas or soap operas, that Hispanic women love, too.

Overall, I agree with the article “Race, Ethnicity, and Student Sources,” that a constant reminder might keep our journalists open-minded while trying to reach that deadline. The study showed that we keep minorities in mind as student journalists. I believe that it is us who can try to keep the trend as we move into the workforce.

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