Blog 12: Bias and Objectivity-Islamophobia in Media Coverage

This week, I want to talk about the bias in media coverage featuring Muslims. After 9/11, this group of people is often connected to terrorism in several news stories. The term called "islamophobia" can be used in the discussion of bias in related stories. According to the article from Gallup, islamophobia indicates “exaggerated fear, hatred, and hostility toward Islam and Muslims that is perpetuated by negative stereotypes.” Not every Muslim is dangerous and will harm society. Journalists’ description of Muslims can reinforce the bias and stereotypes towards this group, worsening the situations of innocent people in this group in various aspects.

First, studies find that news articles featuring Muslims in the U.S. are far more negative than that of other minority groups. I watched a documentary called “(T)error” last year. The film depicted an active FBI case, in which a Muslim was arrested and accused of being a “potential” bad actor in society. In fact, the Muslims in the film did nothing wrong. His tragedy may result from the rooted discrimination towards them in society. The media plays a significant role in strengthening the bias towards people in this group.

Second, media portrayals of Muslim women may marginalize them to some extent. According to the article from Media Smarts, the most common words used to describe Muslim women by journalists and politicians are “segregated,” “beaten,”“insults” and “veil." However, while some Muslim women may conform to the traditional patriarchal hierarchies, many other women in this group lead an independent life. The biased representation of Muslim women can leave a negative impression on the public.

Reference:

https://news.gallup.com/poll/157082/islamophobia-understanding-anti-muslim-sentiment-west.aspx

https://www.newsweek.com/muslims-negative-news-coverage-1457942

https://mediasmarts.ca/diversity-media/religion/media-portrayals-religion-islam

Blog 11- Bias and Objectivity: How to Cover Homeless People

Homelessness is an important topic in modern society. According to data from Our World in Data, around 550,000 people experienced homeless, which means that 1 in 1,670 Americans may be homeless. Under this circumstance, journalists tend to pay attention to this specific group of people in media coverage. Admittedly, journalists do a good job of covering this topic, capturing the attention of more and more people in this society. However, there still needs to be an improvement in nowadays media coverage featuring homeless people.

First, there are still stereotypes towards homeless people in news stories. For instance, homeless people appear in lots of crime stories. What is more, they are often described as insane and dangerous in news stories. There are different kinds of homeless people. In other words, different factors are leading to one’s homelessness. The description of homeless people in some of the media coverage may strengthen the bias of the public towards homeless people, making people believe that homeless people are all lazy or mentally ill. According to National Law Center on Homeless and Poverty, major cities across the country report that the top causes of homelessness among unaccompanied individuals were (1) lack of affordable housing, (2) unemployment, (3) poverty, (4) mental illness and the lack of needed services and (5) substance abuse and the lack of needed services. In particular, for women, domestic violence is a huge cause of homelessness. Homeless people wander on streets for a variety of reasons. Most of them are driven into a corner and have nowhere to go. Journalists should avoid stereotyping homeless people by appropriately presenting different causes of homelessness to the target audience. When interviewing homeless people, journalists need to show empathy towards them. Instead of asking what’s wrong with them, a responsible journalist would rather ask what happen to them.

Second, it is the journalists’ responsibility to offer an accurate picture of homelessness to the public. To help homeless people, one of the most important solutions can be providing shelters for them. In terms of related data, one thing I find interesting is that actual rates of unsheltered homelessness can be higher than the predicted rates in some states, according to the Council of Economic Advisors. Therefore, journalists need to unravel such data in the news articles, making people have an accurate understanding of the situation of unsheltered people.

What is more, journalists need to focus on solutions, not just problems. As an article from San Francisco Public Press said, solutions-based reporting can hold people accountable for solving the problem to the best of their capabilities. More and more media coverage featuring ways to help homeless people can put stress on relevant organizations, which can make staff in local organizations and help centers more willing to offer substantial support to homeless people. In related articles, journalists need to show different ways to help the homeless. They can include the nearest spots for donations to the homeless, which can make people realize the importance of lending a hand.

Reference:

https://www.sfpublicpress.org/how-media-coverage-on-homelessness-falls-short-and-what-reporters-can-do-about-it/

https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/The-State-of-Homelessness-in-America.pdf

https://nlchp.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Homeless_Stats_Fact_Sheet.pdf

https://ourworldindata.org/homelessness

Blog 10:Bias and Objectivity-Bias towards Asian People

This week I want to focus on the Asian group in the United States. According to data from the Pew Research Center, the population of Asian Americans has tremendously increased since 2000. However, this group of people is still underrepresented by American media. Even when it comes to the discussion of bias in media, journalists tend to neglect the Asian group of people. Therefore, I hope to bring the topic of Asian media coverage into the discussion.

First, Asians don’t receive enough media attention. According to the article in Journalists’ Resources, Asian Americans are described as “unseen” and “absent” in several academic studies on how the media portray this group of people. Due to the lack of coverage of Asian people, Asian people are not invited into the discussion on many aspects. For instance, the Asian group is seldom seen in reporting featuring voting. This can make decision-makers pay less attention to groups that are rendered invisible in news stories.

Second, the stereotype towards Asian people worsens the situation. One of the most common stereotypes towards Asian people is “model minority,” which means that Asian members are perceived to achieve a higher degree of socioeconomic success than the population average. The help center at the University of Texas and Austin has provided concrete examples of “model minority” stereotypes towards Asian students.

• Others (peers, professors, teachers, counselors) tell you that "you must be great at math and science! Are you going to go to med school? "

• Professors and classmates assume that you "study all the time" and that you're "doing just fine" without any additional help

Besides, Asian people are also expected to have higher achievement in media stories. They are expected to lead a more successful life than people in the other groups. However, as the article in Journalist Resources said, this stereotype cannot accurately represent the lived experiences of a U.S. population consisting of people from more than 40 Asian countries. Asian groups vary widely in terms of their education and income levels. Not every Asian person in society can receive success. This tendency may hurt the group of people as a whole, making people more likely to ignore the struggles and difficulties of Asian people. Thus, Asians are often considered as someone who does not need help from society, which can deprive them of opportunities of being portrayed by media.