The "most surprising finding" of this study, according to
Martindale, is that the American press has continued to make
substantial progress in providing more coverage, and generally less
stereotypical coverage, of black life in this country. That's the
good news. The bad: Since American society remains largely
segregated and most whites know little about blacks other than what
they read or see in the media, journalism's obsession with crime
and conflict still leads white readers to perceive blacks as a
threat. Now that black dissatisfaction is seldom expressed in forms
that involve mass violence, newspaper executives seem to have lost
their sense of urgency about the appalling poverty that persists in
many inner cities. They are still loath to explore the problems of
local blacks, although they do report racial inequities in other
locales. Indeed, the entire culture of journalism works against
thoughtful coverage of social ills: reporters get ahead by pursuing
powerful people, not the poor. Martindale analyzes samples of press
coverage of four major metropolitan dailies - The New York Times,
Chicago Tribune, Atlanta Constitution, and Boston Globe - from 1950
(when coverage of black Americans was virtually nonexistent) to
1980. The rest of her information dates back to the late 1960's
when the issue was discussed at countless conferences and
commission hearings and probed in professional journals.
Martindale's major suggestions are that media executives make an
effort to establish better communication networks with the black
community and hire or develop experts on urban and racial problems;
that the press focus more on the problems of local blacks and the
frustrations of life in inner-city ghettos; and that efforts to
bring more blacks into the media be renewed. There is important
information contained here, especially the material on how many
basic journalistic practices work against meaningful coverage of
racial issues. However, much of the book is a rehash of papers and
symposia of the 1960's. The study would have benefited immensely
from more on more recent press coverage and from interviews with
prominent black journalists. Martindale herself admits that perhaps
the work's biggest flaw is that the four large dailies she chose to
study may not be entirely representative of the American media.
(Kirkus Reviews)
"An outstanding, comprehensive study about press coverage of black
Americans during the 1960s and 1970s. In clear, polished writing
style, Martindale analyzes past press coverage deficiencies, points
out specific ways that coverage did or did not improve after the
civil rights movement, and suggests ways by which journalists can
improve coverage of black Americans." Choice "[Martindale's]
meaninfgul reflections make history come alive and set forth a
perspective for present and future media personnel." Media
Development
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