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Incognizant Racism

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There have been several previous studies focusing on how media misrepresents people of color. Many have found that although people of color have progressively been able to break down barriers while entering the television industry, they are still often negatively portrayed through local television news. For example, in the journal article “Broadcast News Portrayal of Minorities” by Roger D. Klein and Stacy Naccarato, the authors discuss the negative media portrayals of people of color provided by local television news. They were able to point out that people of color are aware that the local news often portrays them in a negative light and they believe that this is done intentionally (Klein & Naccarato, 2003). The authors provide some explanations for the reasoning behind why local news may misrepresent people of color. They suggested that it is due to a few factors, which includes the policy of ethnic blame and the idea of incognizant racism. According to the article, ethnic blame suggests that since many of the owners of mass media organizations are White, they tend to influence news content of the media by portraying their group in a favorable light while placing blame on people of color for the crimes being committed (Klein & Naccarato, 2003). Incognizant racism is the idea that one may not be aware of their negative or inaccurate perceptions of someone of a different background (Klein & Naccarato, 2003).

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