Diversity in the media is of constant importance now more than ever. It is our utmost responsibility to be a voice for the voiceless. Times have changed and things need to be talked about, we can’t keep hiding from the truth. While we may not be able to represent each individual experience, we can be the platform to amplify their voices. It is our duty as we tell stories for the world to hear. Race, gender, sexuality issues and more need to be known to the public. So how do we do that appropriately?
Courtesy of https://diversitybyinclusion.com/
For starters, we need to see what we are doing wrong. According to the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism “In Pittsburgh between March 1 and April 30, 2011, 73 percent of broadcast stories featuring black men were about sports or crime.” This was reviewing 5,000 print stories. That high percentage gives a bad representation to the African-American community. This only increases racial negativity and leads to a stronger form of racism when people are not seeing the often good variety this community brings to society.
Another example of misrepresentation is when it comes to the numerous gun violence accounts being shared in the media. The wording has been very false, not certifying the full truth. When the shooting happened in Las Vegas, and it was a middle aged white male, the media called it a “mass shooting” as opposed to “domestic terrorism”. Journalists have a responsibility to call it what it is. Hurting and killing mass amounts of people is homegrown terrorism. Poynter states “...we have to think harder about bias in our word choice and the framing of stories, and the effect that has on public perception.” The public rely on us to give them the full information and not sugar coat it so we need to do that better.
In case of the #metoo movement, journalists needed to realize their own bias and set that aside to speak the truth. Many journalists stood with Harvey Weinstein and portrayed that in the media. The women who were harmed are the ones whose stories need to be told, not the predator. While there was a good amount that did not want to silence the women, all journalists needed to be on the same page. “Their sympathy is not with the abusers who lose their careers, but for the women who are kept out of professional advancement in the first place.” Their needs to be a shift in how we prioritize what stories to tell.
There are a variety of different issues concerning the lack of representation in the news coverage today. The mindset needs to change. We need to see where we came from, where we are now, and how we can better shape our future in this regard. Reporters need to hold others accountable to share the stories of the people who need to be heard. Journalists need to accept and support diversity topics. Until we all get on the same page, we cannot thrive.
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