U.S. News Coverage of Racial Minorities: A Sourcebook, 1934-1996

(Hardback)

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This one-volume sourcebook draws together the scholarly literature assessing news coverage in the U.S. mainstream media of Americans of African, Native, Asian, Hispanic, or Pacific Islander origin. The work covers over 60 years, beginning in 1934, and examines the 50 states and the territories in the Pacific and the Caribbean that are currently under U.S. governance. The categories of racial and cultural groups follow the scheme of the 1990 U.S. Census, which provided the most detailed breakdown of race and ethnicity of the American population in the 200-year history of the census. This sourcebook gives parallel treatment to each of these five census groups. Every chapter begins with a history of that group as it came under U.S. jurisdiction. Then, each chapter is divided into six periods suggested by pivotal news events and discusses studies of news coverage of that group during that period. Each chapter also contains extensive endnotes and a selected bibliography on a racial or cultural group. Also included are chapters on investigative reporting and federal regulation of broadcasting as they relate to minorities.

Reviews

"America needs to know how it came to think about race in the ways it does. More than a sourcebook, this volume is a compendium of continuity studies that deal with news coverage of race and racism throughout the 20th century and earlier, with historic overviews and analyses of current issues. Dealing with how the press treated and mistreated some of America's great ethnic groups, the book brings together a wide array of sources, abundant bibliographies, and interesting criticisms."-Michael Parenti, Ph.D. author of Inventing Reality: The Politics of News Media and Dirty Truths
"Makes a significant contribution to the history of what is known about the quantity and quality of coverage of people of color in the U.S. It also is an important indicator of how much improvement is still needed in coverage and of the considerable research that still needs to be done on this subject. The writers provide historical context and analysis that make the material of great value for students, journalism educators and journalists. The substantial gaps in coverage as well as the degrading coverage documented here reveal that coverage of people and communities of color has begun to improve, but that it is likely to become full, fair and accurate only when many more scholars and journalists have absorbed the significance of the past described here."-Betty Medsger, investigative reporter former chair, Department of Journalism, San Francisco State University and founder of its Center for Integration and Improvement of Journalism
"One of the most compelling documentaries on the history of American Mainstream Press coverage and how it has viewed, historically, communities of color. If people in our country don't understand each other in the 1990s, it is because our present institutions and mediums have the job of undoing over 200 years of stereotyping, degradation and objective newswriting from the white male ethnocentric viewpoint. It is a compelling argument for the diversification of the media, of any kind, and the building of new resources that balance the extreme views of our society."-Paul DeMain President, Native American Journalists Association
"The Sourcebook provides historical insight into the nature of news coverage of racial groups in the United States. It is particularly valuable because it addresses the issue across a significant time span and is inclusive of the four major racial "minority" populations in America. The work clearly documents shortcomings in how American news media have approached reportage of peoples of color and, therefore, suggests areas for much needed change. This anthology makes a vital contribution to the literature in a field that deserves more scholarly attention."-Clint C. Wilson II Department of Journalism, Howard University
"Beverly Keever, Carolyn Martindale, and Mary Ann Weston have made an important contribution to our understanding of race in America with their edited anthology....This is a book that should be owned by all communications scholars, and that should be consulted by undergraduate and graduate students....Newcomers to the study of race and ethnicity will find the brief historical overviews of each group useful, and the footnotes and bibliographies a rich resource....[T]his is a valuable text that should be consulted widely."-Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly
"Two features mark this as a valuable resource tool. The first is that it incorporates all of the racial groups in its analysis....The second feature is that news coverage and media treatment of each group is studied within a set of temporal blocks, with each block being anchored by a "pivotal news event.,.".[T]his work offers a compelling approach to the study of race and the media in America. It combines both a useful text and--as is too seldom the case-- a good read. The book would be an indispensable addition to any media or multicultural scholar's bookcase."-MultiCultural Review
An important contribution to our understanding of race in America....This volume is an exhaustive literature review that brings together the existing scholarship on the press and the largest racialized groups in the United States....This is a book that should be owned by all communications scholars, and that should be consulted by undergraduate and graduate students.-Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly
Beverly Keever, Carolyn Martindale, and Mary Ann Weston have made an important contribution to our understanding of race in America with their edited anthology....This is a book that should be owned by all communications scholars, and that should be consulted by undergraduate and graduate students....Newcomers to the study of race and ethnicity will find the brief historical overviews of each group useful, and the footnotes and bibliographies a rich resource....[T]his is a valuable text that should be consulted widely.-Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly
This book is a compilation of research on news coverage of Native, African, Hispanic, and Asian Americans, as well as Pacific Islanders, from 1934 to 1996....As a compendium of the scholarly literature assessing news coverage of the major race groups in the U.S. from 1934-1996, this book is successful in presenting research mostly on the mainstream media. The editors call for more qulaitative research on this important subject.-Journal History
Two features mark this as a valuable resource tool. The first is that it incorporates all of the racial groups in its analysis....The second feature is that news coverage and media treatment of each group is studied within a set of temporal blocks, with each block being anchored by a "pivotal news event.,.".[T]his work offers a compelling approach to the study of race and the media in America. It combines both a useful text and--as is too seldom the case-- a good read. The book would be an indispensable addition to any media or multicultural scholar's bookcase.-MultiCultural Review
"An important contribution to our understanding of race in America....This volume is an exhaustive literature review that brings together the existing scholarship on the press and the largest racialized groups in the United States....This is a book that should be owned by all communications scholars, and that should be consulted by undergraduate and graduate students."-Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly
"This book is a compilation of research on news coverage of Native, African, Hispanic, and Asian Americans, as well as Pacific Islanders, from 1934 to 1996....As a compendium of the scholarly literature assessing news coverage of the major race groups in the U.S. from 1934-1996, this book is successful in presenting research mostly on the mainstream media. The editors call for more qulaitative research on this important subject."-Journal History

Author Bio

BEVERLY ANN DEEPE KEEVER, Associate Professor of Journalism at the University of Hawaii, covered the Vietnam War for seven years. Her reporting for the Christian Science Monitor about the embattled outpost of Khe Sanh was nominated in 1969 for a Pulitzer Prize. CAROLYN MARTINDALE is Professor Emerita at Youngstown State University, where she served as director of the journalism program. A former newspaper reporter, she is the author of The White Press and Black America (Greenwood, 1986) and the editor of Pluralizing Journalism Education: A Multicultural Handbook (Greenwood, 1993). MARY ANN WESTON is Associate Professor at the Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University. A former newspaper reporter, she was a member of the Detroit Free Press staff that won a Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the 1967 Detroit riots. She is the author of Native Americans In the News (Greenwood, 1996).