Race, Gender & Media - Blog 1 (Feb. 3, 2009)

I find it difficult to broach the topic of race, gender & media. I think this is so because I could probably blog about each of the three topics separately for a length of time without running out of thoughts.

So, I’ve decided on simply rambling…

The first thing that comes to mind is Don Imus. The first Imus incident that I think of is in regards to the Rutgers women’s basketball team. While Youtube-ing the search term “Imus & Rutgers” I stumbled upon this video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=rFEsaRjlbbk.

There is obviously much debate as to whether Imus made his degrading comment about the women basketball players with an intentional racist tone or an accidental one. I think Imus believes it to have been accidental. I get the impression that many African Americans, such as public figure Al Sharpton, think it was more than an accident; it was representative of a racist frame of mind.

I don’t know whether it was an accident or not. I do think that there is an argument for both sides.

Perhaps Imus is a racist, insensitive radio host who has taken on the role of a “speak your mind commentator” and does so via words and expressions that come to him naturally.

OR

Perhaps Imus is a non-racist, as-sensitive-as-the-next-guy radio host who just gives the people what they want. He’s built an audience not by coincidence and luck but out of sheer interest in his annotations (albeit for different reasons ranging from humor to news commentary).

This last argument brings me to the following question: With so many media programs (everything from newspaper to radio to television to internet) offering venues for racist & sexist views, does it mean that these are the sorts of programs that we, the audience, want from the media?

I mean, we are inclusively the audience to whom media caters. So there must be people out there who are proponents of these media programs that are racist, sexist, etc. … right? But is it just to create controversy and debate?

Maybe that’s the trick to media; stir up arguments and the media’s got their prize… continued interest. The media is, after all, just a business.