THE TREATMENT OF PERSONS OF COLOR IN LOCAL TELEVISION-NEWS - ETHNIC BLAME DISCOURSE OR REALISTIC GROUP CONFLICT

Blaming outgroups for social problems is a common discursive practice. However, it is not clear whether this discourse represents ethnocentr ic bias or realistic group conflict. To compare these explanations, th e authors studied 14 weeks of local television news on three stations in Philadelphia. The authors found that persons of color were heavily presented in stories about crime, and within those stories were more l ikely to be presented as perpetrators of crime than as persons reactin g to or suffering from it. An analysis using recent homicide rates in Philadelphia and a rational model of expected victimization indicated that contrary to a realistic-conflict explanation White actors were ov erpresented as victims of violence compared to their roles as perpetra tors, and persons of color were overpresented as perpetrators of viole nce against White actors. These patterns were consistent with the hypo thesis that the news media engage in. a discourse of ethnic blame that is independent of realistic group conflict.