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misterearl
Posts: 38786
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Joined: 11/16/2004
Member: #799
USA
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ABSTRACT
"Is television's coverage of professional football racially biased?"
Rainville and McCormick concluded that announcers were biasing the coverage against blacks by presenting a negative image of them while presenting a positive image of whites.
This research used as the definition of bias: "presenting a more negative image of one race of players compared to another race of players."
In the "heat of the battle," announcers are forced to speak extemporaneouly without having time to think through what they are about to say. Thus, they may revert to ingrained beliefs and attitudes
causing them to misspeak.
About 41% of the comments were about whites and 59% about blacks. About 88% of the comments made about blacks were positive and 12% were negative. About 95% of the comments made about whites were positive, and 5% were negative.
About 57% of the comments relating to accomplishments were directed toward
blacks and 43% were directed toward whites. Broken down into positive and
negative comments about accomplishments, for blacks, 95% of the comments
were positive, and 5% were negative. For whites, 93% of the comments were
positive and 7% were negative.
Of the play-related comments, 89% of the comments about blacks were
positive, and 11% were negative. For whites, 92% of the comments were
positive, and 8% were negative.
Significant differences were found in physical and cognitive attributions.
Blacks received 85% of the comments relating to physical characteristics
whereas whites received 15% . Whites received 65% of the comments relating
to cognitive characteristics whereas blacks received 35%.
In controlling for positive and negative comments, significant differences were found again in these two categories. Under positive physical attributions, blacks were the recipients of 82% of the comments, whereas whites were the recipients of 18% of the positive physical comments. In positive cognitive statements, whites received 72% of the positive comments whereas blacks received 28%.
While there were only 12 cases of positive statements related to sympathy toward a player, all 12 cases were made about whites.
While there were only 18 cases of negative comments relating to cognitive attribution, speculation, a player's character or personal interest, all 18 cases were made about blacks.
By referring more often to black players than to white players with nicknames that carry inanimate connotations, the announcers present an unfavorable image of black players. The animal nicknames present the player as just that, an animal. All 11 cases in which nicknames had either animal or inanimate connotations were directed toward blacks.
By using more references to a white player's cognitive abilities, and a black player's physical prowess, the announcers more often portray the black players as strictly athletes and the white players as the "thinking men" on the field. This conclusion is further solidified by a greater
frequency of play-related praise and criticism directed toward black players.
Some of the most interesting discoveries during the course of this research came from four categories of negative comments toward blacks. Overall, there was a significantly higher percentage of negative comments toward blacks than toward whites, but the largest disparity came under the categories of cognitive abilities, speculation, character and personal interest. While there were only 18 total cases, ALL of the negative comments in these categories were directed toward blacks.
The significance of these findings lies in tying the results of this
research to Gerbner's conceptualization of cultivation. Gerbner's research explored the message within the message. Many mass media messages about blacks seem to be that blacks are inferior, lazy, dumb, dishonest, comical, unethical, and crooked (U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 1977), insolent,
bestial, brutish, power-hungry, money hungry and ignorant (Dates, 1990); athletic, but not intelligent; animals, or possessing animal and not human characteristics; and lacking such positive character traits as being family-oriented, and volunteering time for the benefit of others.
Such messages were included in the comments by the announcers of the professional football games analyzed in this study.
Black players received a significantly higher portion of the comments related to their play
(accomplishments, physical attribution, and play related-praise or criticism); however, whites received most of the positive, and blacks most of the negative comments related to the individual as a human being(character, cognitive attribution, sympathy, and personal interest). If
the audience that receives such negative images of black football players combines these images with other media stereotypes, and transposes those negative images and stereotypes onto the black population in general, then the racial inequities that have plagued this country for over 400 years
likely will continue.
[Edited by - misterearl on 03-28-2007 10:08 PM]
once a knick always a knick
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3/28/2007 4:46 PM
