Minorities And Media

Media & Minorities looks at the media's racial tendencies with an eye to identifying the "system supportive" messages conveyed and offering challenges to them. The book covers all major media--including television, film, newspapers, radio, magazines, and the Internet--and systematically analyzes their representation of the four largest minority groups in the U.S.: African Americans, Native Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans. Entertainment media are compared and contrasted with news media, and special attention is devoted to coverage of social movements for racial justice and politicians of color.

This book addresses cross-cultural representations of ethnic minority peoples by dominant society 'outsiders' and indigenous self-representation in the context of the 'New Media Nation'. In doing so, it explores the role of language, culture, identity and media in liberation struggles and the emergence of new political entities, and opens up issues of colonial oppression to public debate. It is intended to help inform policy in a variety of settings. Grounded in current perspectives on diaspora and homeland and drawing on Alia's work on minorities, media and identity as well as Bull's work on Maori socio-cultural issues and criminalisation of minorities, this volume offers a comparative, international perspective on the experiences of a broad range of ethnic minority peoples. These include Inuit and First Nations people in Canada; Native Americans and African Americans in the United States; Sami in northern Europe; Maori in New Zealand; Aboriginal people in Australia and Roma in Ireland and Britain.

There are few media issues more pressing, or potentially more consequential, than the representation of ethnic minorities. Presented in an accessible style, this authoritative text therefore brings together leading international researchers who have examined some of the latest processes of change (and continuity) informing the field of ethnic minorities and the media.

The media inform the public, help political and social actors communicate with each other, influence perceptions of pressing issues, depict topics and people in particular ways, and may shape political views and participation. Given these critical functions that the media play in society, this book asks how the media represent migrants and minorities. What information do the media communicate about them? What are the implications of media coverage for participation in the public sphere? In the past, researchers studying migrants and minorities have rarely engaged in systematic media analysis. This volume advances analytical strategies focused on information, representation, and participation to examine the media, migrants, and minorities, and it offers a set of compelling original analyses of multiple minority groups from countries in Europe, North America, and East Asia, considering both traditional newspapers and new social media. The contributors analyze the framing and type of information that the media provide about particular groups or about issues related to migration and diversity; they examine how the media convey or construct particular depictions of minorities and immigrants, including negative portrayals; and they interrogate whether and how the media provide space for minorities’ participation in a public sphere where they can advance their interests and identities. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies.

Canadians take great pride in their country's commitment to multiculturalism. Institutions that deny ethnic and racial diversity are not only seen as offensive, but they also compromise the challenge of crafting a progressive Canada. The mainstream media in Canada, through its awesome influence over our lives, wields sufficient power to set agendas, construct realities, and frame issues to advance or retard this cause. In defining what is acceptable and desirable, it provides the elusive ingredient for creating a society in which individuals live together respecting their differences. Media and Minorities examines the representational basis of media-minority relations in Canada. In so doing, it hopes to make a modest contribution to advancing the cause of a Canada that is inclusive and equitable, workable and fair.

Second and third generation South and Southeast Asian minorities in Hong Kong, being marginalized from mainstream social and political affairs, have developed an ambivalent sense of belonging to their host society. Unlike their forefathers who first settled in Hong Kong under British colonial rule, these younger generations have spent their formative years in the territory. As such, they have increasingly engaged in the public and political realms of society, partly in response to the territory’s rapid political changes. Leung discusses and analyses the complex and diverse engagement of migrant and minority youths in Hong Kong - and their struggle for recognition, while desiring to 'be-long' to a place they call home. Some are joining the calls for democratic changes in the territory. In particular, she argues that much of this struggle can be seen in minorities’ involvement in creative sectors of society. While it will be of especial interest to scholars with an interest in Hong Kong, this book presents a compelling case study for anyone interested in the dynamics of migrant and minority engagement in the creative sector as a strategy for engagement.

Minorities and Media is a highly readable analysis of the ways in which the mass media have portrayed minorities in the United States since the late nineteenth century. The book examines the ways in which the media have reinforced racial stereotypes, and provides an analysis of current trends which reflect the growing recognition of ethnic diversity. The authors conclude that the increasing racial diversity of the United States and continued audience segmentation will reduce the role of communication media in transmitting and developing the common culture of American society.

The interdisciplinary volume »Media and Minorities«, that is the outcome of a conference hosted by the Academy of the Jewish Museum Berlin in cooperation with the Council on Migration, presents, from an international perspective, the latest results of empirical studies and discusses them, led by the following key questions: how has the media presentation of ethnic and religious minorities developed in Germany and in other immigration countries, such as the USA, Canada and the United Kingdom? Does a higher proportion of members of minority communities working in media production automatically lead to a more balanced approach to these topics? And lastly: which strategies are necessary to ensure differentiated reporting in pluralist societies and also to promote ethnic and religious diversity in media structures? Likewise, changing requirements placed on an appropriate sensitivity to language also form part of the range of issues which are being considered.