Race and Feminism in Media
For decades, race and feminism have both seen prominent movements allowing minorities to advocate for their equality. However, the media coverage regarding these two topics has been limited. For instance, the news outlets portrayal of the Black Lives Matter Movement was a stark contrast to the reality of the protests, providing a biased representation of the movement. How protests are covered is crucial given that the more delegitimizing the coverage, the less support there will be from the public. By classifying the peaceful protests as riots, the news outlets focused on creating a narrative that pitted authorities against the protesters, portraying a spectacle for the viewers and readers. Along with this, the Me Too movement received mixed media coverage as it portrayed a sympathetic message, however not in manner that was empowering to women. A study by Carnegie Mellon University found that news articles consistently presented men as powerful beings, even after their sexual assault allegations (Young 2019). With this unconscious bias hidden beneath subtle language in articles, it tended to undermine the Me Too movement and what it aimed to accomplish. The media coverage related to these two movements serves to emphasize the impact that journalists and news outlets have on the perception of race and gender in media. On topics of race and gender, societal views and oppression seep their way into stories that are reported, often times, exaggerating the negative and overlooking the truth.
Media stories relating to race and feminism have advertently been displayed in a one-dimensional view that doesn’t always depict the full truth. In a kidnapping that occurred in 2014, the different media outlets of the world had different interpretations and conclusions on what occurred. In the excerpt “The Numbers Don’t Speak for Themselves. Chapter Six in Data Feminism,” it mentions how news outlets like CNN, the Japan Times, and more reported different parts of the kidnapping, failing to provide viewers with a full understanding. The Japan Times reported the conclusion that the kidnappings were related to the unrest in Nigeria’s northern states, while SaharaReporters.com challenged how safe the Nigerian government can keep its kids (D’Ignazio, C., & Klein, L.F 149). Meanwhile, the popular blog FiveThirtyEight, misreported data on kidnappings in Nigeria due to the fact that the outlet had cited the Global Database of Events, Language, and Tone (GDELT) whose primary source is media reports (D’Ignazio, C., & Klein, L.F 149). Though this kidnapping was a single event, it led to a multitude of stories, that depicted different perspectives without the proper information to understand the situation. The misinformation spread by FiveThirtyEight, though unintentional, provides viewers with biased information that aims to ignite outrage towards the Nigerian government for allowing kidnappings of young women to skyrocket in their country. Oppressive ideas and depictions are exasperated in situations like these as it encourages the public to make assumptions based on their preconceived notions. It is key to have objective reporting that states the facts in order to allow the public to make their own opinions on matters.
Race and feminism have been issues prevalent in society for decades, and when coupled together, the brunt of these issues falls on women of color. These women experience a plethora of issues based on both their gender and race creating a greater divide between them and other women and races. The difficulties of these women are severely underrepresented in the media as in the excerpt “The Power Chapter. Chapter One in Data Feminism”, it reveals how Serena Williams received medical care and media attention simply due to the privilege she experienced being a tennis star (D’Ignazio, C., & Klein, L.F 23). This privilege intersected with the oppression she faced as a black woman, and it was only after her near-death experience that forced the media to bring awareness to an issue that has been impacting black women for decades. It was only after the outpour of Instagram followers sharing their complications with childbirth and Serena Williams replying on Facebook that sparked a discussion on an issue that has been impacting women of color for decades (D’Ignazio, C., & Klein, L.F 22). The transparency on this issue to the public is absent largely due to the lack of data corresponding to birth complications. With limited data on such issues pertaining to women, especially that of color, the media considers the topic miniscule in comparison to other issues.
