Media Stereotyping

Earlier this year, Mary Beth Oliver from Pennsylvania State University’s College of Communications spent six months at the University of Otago as a 2006 Fulbright US Senior Scholar, analysing the effects of racial and ethnic stereotyping of marginalised groups by the media. To this end, she conducted surveys of New Zealanders to gauge their perceptions of both Māori and African Americans, and how these perceptions might be influenced by media exposure.

Mary Beth Oliver

When we encounter a person for the first time, a host of thoughts come to mind automatically. Is the person friendly? Dangerous? Kind hearted? How do we decide these questions?

Research from several disciplines shows that people often rely on stereotypes when making split-second judgments. A host of cues may trigger our perceptions, including the age, gender, and clothing of the encountered person. However, one cue that is consistently found to be important in our perceptions is the person’s race or ethnicity, with individuals from historically oppressed groups stereotyped in a host of negative ways, including as dangerous, lazy, and unhealthy, among other perceptions. Of course, this stereotyping has many implications, including verdicts in legal proceedings, interpersonal interactions that display mistrust or fear in more informal settings, and institutional practices such as racial profiling in law-enforcement situations.

Given the many harms that stereotyping can cause, it is clearly important to examine the factors that contribute to stereotyping. The purpose of my research while in New Zealand at the University of Otago was to explore one particular factor: news media exposure. In particular, my research explored how exposure to television news is associated with stereotyping of Māori populations among Pakeha viewers.

This research was motivated by a recognition that many people rely on media as their primary source of information about issues for which they have little direct experience and about groups with whom they have little direct or intimate contact. As such, when we rely on news reports for our information, biases in news run the risk of contributing to stereotyping by creating or sustaining inaccurate perceptions and negative attitudes.

Prior to coming to New Zealand, my research on media and racial stereotyping focused on Whites’ perceptions of African Americans. In particular, my focus had been on how news portrayals of race and crime contribute to Whites’ stereotyping of African Americans as dangerous, criminal, and violent. One goal I had while in New Zealand was to extend this line of research to see if the findings we were observing in the US were applicable to other cultures and countries. As one part of this project, I conducted a survey among students enrolled at the University of Otago concerning their perceptions of the attributes and behaviors of a variety of different groups, both in New Zealand and in the US.

Overall, did this research support the idea that news consumption contributes to stereotyping of Māori populations? The answer to this question, as with research conducted in the US, is complex, but my research does suggest that viewers’ perceptions may, in fact, be influenced by media portrayals under some circumstances. For example, my survey revealed that among the Pakeha respondents, greater amounts of television news exposure were associated with greater perceptions of Māori populations as unhealthy and overly dependent on welfare.

It may seem easy to point an accusatory finger at the news media and to conclude that greater attention to racially equitable portrayals would “solve the problem.” Of course, systematic efforts to eradicate biased depictions deserve our attention. However, a reliance on changing media content as the only solution ignores the fact that viewers’ interpretations of media content also play a huge role in how they are affected.

Research on viewers’ selection, interpretation, and memory of media content has a long history, suggesting that viewers tend to interpret and remember content that confirms their existing beliefs. When hearing news reports, viewers’ existing stereotypes likely affect how they interpret or remember the news, even if the content is equitable in its treatment. Consistent with this line of argument, my survey also found that greater exposure to television news was associated with Pakeha perceptions of Māori as violent, as criminal, and as drug-users. However, this relationship was only evident for respondents who reported conservative political attitudes; among liberal respondents, news viewing was associated with more favorable perceptions.

My research while in New Zealand leads me to the following conclusions. The media play a key role, but it’s important to recognize that the relationship is complex. We all must work together to understand this issue and to make strides toward improving the situation. As researchers, we need to explore techniques such as media literacy training that may help diminish harmful effects on viewers’ attitudes. As media producers, we need to be cognizant of the ways in which race and ethnicity are portrayed. And as news consumers, we need to be constantly vigilant of how we interpret and understand what we see.

Admittedly, it’s a long road to walk, but perhaps by walking it together, when we encounter that person for the first time, we’ll be more likely to extend a hand in friendship and kindness.