Hispanics are clearly represented in a negative light by the media. Where the problem lies is where should the line be drawn on how to report on America’s largest minority?
It is true that immigration is an issue in the U.S. that seems to draw negative attention and Hispanics are more often than not are the first group which comes to mind in regards to this topic. This does not seem like an issue which can be blamed on the media, I think it is a natural American stereotype to jump to this conclusion. In all reality it is known that we have secure shores and the Canadians don’t seem to be jumping on over into America. This leaves only one group to point to in term if illegal immigration. In this situation, I feel politicians may be to blame. They seem to be the ones using the Hispanics as their example of illegal immigrants.
At the same time Hispanics are represented as criminals by the media, a situation which can clearly be pointed at the media. This seems like a problem without a very simple answer. Coming from California I can vouch that Hispanics are shown in mug shots on the news daily. Growing up with them in this negative light has caused me to have a much more skewed vision of Hispanics as I discovered today.
How can it be stopped that Hispanics are the ones being shown as criminals by the media?
It can be argued that the media pick and choose the stories which they choose to cover, but I can vouch for the local level saying that they cover the stories which contain the largest wow factor or they will cover any crime story if it is a light day in the news (nationally, I don’t have room to speak, but it seems they too will choose the WOW factor stories).
There is no doubt that this negative light is being shed, particularly on the subject of crime, but I think the only way this can be changed is if the media simply stops covering stories about Hispanics committing crimes (this is not something which can just be stopped, that would be ridiculous). Taking an approach to cover the amount of stories that represent the population being served sounds like the complete opposite of what the Medias purpose is. For instance if there is a city with a 25% Hispanic population does that mean that there should be 25% of the coverage on Hispanics? Most certainly not!
I think delivering the news in this fashion defeats the purpose of serving as a watchdog and helping the greater good of the people.
What is the answer then? Perhaps the media is simply covering the stories which happen in the news and if Hispanics are the ones committing the crimes, then they will be the ones showed on the television.
Hispanics account for 40% of all crimes committed. It seems as though the numbers speak for themselves. An article written by the New York Times in February of this year shows the break down of numbers.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/19/us/19immig.html
It is true that immigration is an issue in the U.S. that seems to draw negative attention and Hispanics are more often than not are the first group which comes to mind in regards to this topic. This does not seem like an issue which can be blamed on the media, I think it is a natural American stereotype to jump to this conclusion. In all reality it is known that we have secure shores and the Canadians don’t seem to be jumping on over into America. This leaves only one group to point to in term if illegal immigration. In this situation, I feel politicians may be to blame. They seem to be the ones using the Hispanics as their example of illegal immigrants.
At the same time Hispanics are represented as criminals by the media, a situation which can clearly be pointed at the media. This seems like a problem without a very simple answer. Coming from California I can vouch that Hispanics are shown in mug shots on the news daily. Growing up with them in this negative light has caused me to have a much more skewed vision of Hispanics as I discovered today.
How can it be stopped that Hispanics are the ones being shown as criminals by the media?
It can be argued that the media pick and choose the stories which they choose to cover, but I can vouch for the local level saying that they cover the stories which contain the largest wow factor or they will cover any crime story if it is a light day in the news (nationally, I don’t have room to speak, but it seems they too will choose the WOW factor stories).
There is no doubt that this negative light is being shed, particularly on the subject of crime, but I think the only way this can be changed is if the media simply stops covering stories about Hispanics committing crimes (this is not something which can just be stopped, that would be ridiculous). Taking an approach to cover the amount of stories that represent the population being served sounds like the complete opposite of what the Medias purpose is. For instance if there is a city with a 25% Hispanic population does that mean that there should be 25% of the coverage on Hispanics? Most certainly not!
I think delivering the news in this fashion defeats the purpose of serving as a watchdog and helping the greater good of the people.
What is the answer then? Perhaps the media is simply covering the stories which happen in the news and if Hispanics are the ones committing the crimes, then they will be the ones showed on the television.
Hispanics account for 40% of all crimes committed. It seems as though the numbers speak for themselves. An article written by the New York Times in February of this year shows the break down of numbers.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/19/us/19immig.html
40% of crime committed nationally or locally?
ReplyDeleteI saw this clip on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3U9ENaTPLY) and it left me without any doubt that the media are at fault for perpetuating the image that illegal Hispanic aliens are in America largely to unleash a crime wave.
ReplyDeleteThe youtube clip was between an angry Bill O’Reilly of Fox News and radio host Geraldo Rivera over the case of Alfredo Ramos, 22, an illegal immigrant who killed two teenage girls in Virginia in a drunk-driving case in 2007.
What resulted from this was that the media framed the story to be that of immigration, instead of it being a case of drunk-driving. The argument by O’Reilly was that if Ramos had not been in the U.S., then the accident would not have happened and the two girls would still be alive. But then again, in 2006, the state of Virginia registered 347 drunk-driving fatalities and none of these made national headlines.
This story, sadly, made headlines because the driver was an illegal immigrant and even though there was no direct cause and effect between his being illegal and drunk-driving, the media used this case to call for tougher immigration laws.
Obviously, the case would have been different had Ramos been a Ray. How the media chose to concentrate on the status of the driver and forget that this was a case of drunk-driving is only one of the many examples were the story angles chosen by the media only work to perpetuate biases, stereotypes and discrimination.
The downside to this is that all Hispanics come to be represented by Ramos, regardless of the fact that there are many law-abiding, hard-working Hispanic people in America, who have contributed a lot to making this nation what it is today.
And it’s scary, really, this singling people out. You cannot tell how it will all end. The likes of O’Reilly only work to inflame emotions and this could lead to anarchy and vigilantism by people wanting to themselves kick illegal aliens out of the country under the pretext of being fed up with crime.
But if you look at it, there are more U.S. nationals in jails than anyone else. This means that illegal immigrants commit crimes at a lower rate than U.S. citizens.
I feel like if the Hispanics are committing the crimes then the media have the right to report the news. It is the way that the Hispanics are being portrayed when they are suspected of a crime is the problem. Mug shots are used to show the Hispanics in a negative light. It’s common for the media to identify the race of the criminals even when it’s not significant to the case. I feel that if the media keeps stating the race of the criminal, it will only add fuel to the fire. Stereotypes will grow stronger, making it harder for other races to see Hispanics in a positive light.
ReplyDelete"is a natural American stereotype to jump to this conclusion."
ReplyDeleteYeah I totally agree with you on this statement. I really think that people in America profess to be understanding and accepting of things, but the majority of them form unnecessary and biased opinions about those who are portrayed negatively by the media [family, friends, and anything else].
"but I think the only way this can be changed is if the media simply stops covering stories about Hispanics committing crimes"
ha..yeah news organizations are so crime-sheet orientated that they can't escape from the grip of reading what comes off of the police sheet. It's so terrible. this is the primary reason I refuse to watch local news. Once they change this I will be much more inclined to watch local news.
"Hispanics account for 40% of all crimes committed. "
yeah I don't know if this is local or national.
Good blog post, I enjoyed reading it.