My first key question is “Who is affected by the portrayal of racism in media?” This relates to my topic because I believe that media is the cause of unfair treatment between two or more races. The first source I used to examine this issue is an article called "Racial bias and media coverage of violent crime" by Lisa Wade (published 9th April 2015). The information …show more content…
I gained about my first key question from this source is how media in the United States uses power to brainwash society into thinking that black people are dangerous and the main cause of crimes throughout the country.Therefore police are more likely to shoot black people because of the way that media has convinced society. I think this source is reliable because studies of Americans unconscious beliefs shows that while only 51% of black Americans were arrested for crimes in New York, 75% of the news reports about these violent crimes highlighted black alleged perpetrators.
Another source of information about this first question is an article by Gabriel Arana called “Islamophobia media coverage is out of control. It needs to stop.” In this article Gabriel talks about how media is portraying all Muslims to be violent and dangerous because of some major incidents that have occurred globally. This shows a high level of bias because media is portraying all Muslims to be terrorists, which has a major impact on society because less people are likely to employ Muslims and accept them in Universities and such . I think this source is reliable and relevant because in this article Gabriel has presented a picture of an American news company called CNN where a question “does Islam promote violence?” was raised. This may not seem like a big deal but is goes to show that the media do not blame the people that actually caused those incidents but blames the Muslim religion as a whole. This question indirectly brainwashes the viewers because now whenever they hear the work “Muslim” the first thing that goes through their mind is violence and terrorism.
Therefore, by examining the evidence from both my sources, my judgement on this matter is that media does use its powers to portray racism. My reasons for coming to this conclusion are the way that media has manipulated society into thinking that black people are the cause of all crimes and cannot be trusted. Also how media had blamed all Muslims for incidents that were caused by a few reckless people that happened to have been Muslims. In light of my opinion, I think a solution to this issue would be for media to start focusing more on the criminals themselves rather than blaming cultures, races, and religions for the actions of only a few people. Also if the media were to give both sides to the story and let society decide for themselves who is wrong and who it right it would not create feud between races. The implications of my suggestion could be the solution of racism because people would not get brainwashed by media into thinking that every Muslim they see is a terrorist or that every black person is a criminal.
My second question is "What countries are affected by the portrayal of racism in media?” This relates to my topic because many multicultural countries such as Australia, New Zealand, and USA are undergoing racial discrimination at this very moment. Sometimes governments even decide to change laws based on what they see in media about different race or religions. One source I used to examine this issue is an article called "Islamophobia media coverage is out of control. It needs to stop" by Gabriel Arana. The information I gained about my second key question from this source are the countries that have been affected by racism due to media manipulation. These countries include France, Australia and the United States of America where Muslims have been treated unfairly because media has portrayed them to be terrorists. This has a high impact on popular business companies such as Apple and Microsoft. Because President Trump has proposed many law enforcements against Muslims that media could have influenced at some point. These companies will suffer a large loss in the number of products sold because countries in the Middle East will refuse to purchase products made in the USA due to these law changes, this means that Apple and Microsoft's profit will decrease since they will no longer be exporting to some of the most profitable countries in the world. This relates to media because ever since the destruction of the twin towers media had concentrated on blaming the Islamic religion for the loss of hundreds of lives. This all gave enough evidence for America to change the law against Muslims.
I think this source is reliable and relevant because in the article Gabriel mentions how 1.6 billion Muslims are getting blamed for something that was beyond their control. He also mentions a number of news companies that are guilty of making racial comments about Muslims and provides an image to really make his point across.
Another source of information about this second question is an article written by Kristen West Savali called "Throw away the script: How bias media is killing black Americans." The information I gained about my second key question from this source is how media is the cause of unfair treatment between black people and white people in America. I think this source is reliable because the article shows statistical findings of Harvard’s project implicit which determined that approximately 88% of white Americans have implicit racial bias against black people.
Therefore, by examining the evidence from both my sources, my judgement on this matter is that many countries are being affected by the portrayal of racism in media. My reasons for coming to this conclusion are the facts that have been presented in these two articles, which really show how people are being affected by this matter and the harm media has caused to society. In light of my opinion, I think a solution to this issue would be to provide consequences to the companies portraying information in a negative way and put an end to racism in media. The implications of my suggestions could result in gradual decrease in the amount of racism that many countries are facing, because media would not be able to fire up racial comments every few weeks and brainwash society to have a negative view on people.
My third key question is "How does media portray racism?" This relates to my topic because media uses an indirect approach to convince society that certain races are bad, while at the same time making themselves look good. One source I used to examine this issue is an article published by www.wordpress.com called "Media and Racism." The information I gained about my third key question from this source is how, many people in society rely heavily on media for information This gives an advantage for news companies to portray racism indirectly using global issues. After the September 11 attack in America, Fox News radio host Mike Gallagher suggested that airports have a dedicated "Muslim only Line." This goes to show how news companies would do anything to seek attention and to earn more money no matter how wrong they are. In this article the author describes how a French Magazine company produced cartoons mocking the Muslim religion which they had published inside their magazines. These cartoons have grabbed many people's attention including children throughout France. I think this source is reliable and relevant because the publisher not only writes about the issue in depth but also provides images and video to back up the statement about racism and media.
Another source of information about this second question is another article by Ian Burrel which was published on 9th January 2014 called "Media coverage of ethnic minority Britons promote racism." The information I gained about my third key question from this source is how the portrayal of minorities in media encourages racial discrimination. In this article, Burrel uses many statistical evidence which shows how the society is feeling about media and racism including a poll that found 78% of respondents of all ethnic backgrounds believe that media portrayal of minorities encourages racial discrimination. I think this source is reliable because it provides a very convincing amount of evidence about the portrayal of racism through media.
Therefore, by examining the evidence from both my sources, my conclusion on this matter is that media uses information to portray racism to seek more attention and earn more money. My reasons for coming to this conclusion are the valuable information that I have gathered from both these sources, as well as statistical evidence that these sources provide. In light of my opinion, I think a solution to this issue would be for the government to take this matter seriously and put an end to media racism. The implications of my suggestions could be a permanent solution to racism. If governments take racial matters seriously and punish the people who condone racism then there would not be as many disagreements.
From researching my topic of to what extent does the portrayal of racism affect society, I learned some useful information that applies to the unfair treatment between many different races, due to the incorrect information released by the media.
My conclusion to my first question was the implications of my suggestion could be the solution of racism because people would not get brainwashed by media into thinking that every Muslim they see is a terrorist or that every black person is a criminal. My conclusion to my second question was the implications of my suggestions could result in gradual decrease in the amount of racism that many countries are facing because media would not be able to fire up racial comments every few weeks and brainwash society to have a negative view on people. My conclusion for my final question was the implications of my suggestions could be a permanent solution to racism. If governments take racial matters seriously and punish the people who condone racism then there would not be as many
disagreements.
I discovered that many people are getting blamed for something that they were not part of because of how media had portrayed the ethnicities or religions of these people. Statistical evidence has also showed how media uses its powers to manipulate society from all around the world. lastly I discovered that there are many different ways that media uses to portray racism globally including magazines, social media, and radio.
In my opinion, the best to deal with this issue is for the media to stick to their jobs and provide information for both side of an issue and let society decide for themselves who is wrong and who is right. Racism would also have a significant decrease if the leaders of the countries took action and provided punishments for people who commit these offences.