Racial Profiling In Mainstream Media

In order to score more lucrative deals and attract viewers, news outlets and other forms of media exaggerate and falsify reports of racial profiling, causing the public to get invalid information on the topic. The mainstream media has falsified reports regarding racial profiling for years, causing the public to believe that african-americans and other racial minorities are the main proprietors in drug trafficking and violent crimes. Although the media has instilled the image that racial minorities are the majority of people involved in these types of crimes, these claims are simply not factual and lead to a false perception.

News outlets in major cities have been creating inaccurate reports related to crimes and racial minorities in order

“A study of television news found that black crime suspects were presented in more threatening contexts than whites: black suspects were disproportionately shown in mug shots and in cases where the victim was a stranger.” (Richard Prince). By creating this false perception of people of color in the news, the mainstream media is able to draw in a large number of viewers and create a new societal stereotype signaling that the majority of people of color are linked to criminal activity. In reality-based TV shows, people of color are portrayed and treated differently than white people, this is mainly due to the fact that by incorporating this treatment towards people of color into TV shows, media companies are able to draw in more viewers by making the shows more dramatic and interesting. “Blacks and Hispanics were also more likely to be treated aggressively by police officers on reality-based based TV shows, including America's Most Wanted and Cops” (Sentencing Project). By drawing in more viewers with the over dramatization and aggressive treatment of people of color, media networks not only increase their profits, but they create a standard that makes it easier for people in different communities to judge racial minorities and make assumptions about them based solely on evidence

This content not only increases ratings from the white audience, but increases the media’s reach. Although this benefits the media companies, racial minorities and their communities suffer because of the stereotypes created by these media networks. "By over-representing whites as victims of crimes perpetrated by people of color, crime news delivers a double blow to white audiences' potential for empathetic understanding of racial minorities” (Nazgol Ghandnoosh). By outputting media geared towards white people persuading them that racial minorities are tied in with criminal activity, media networks not only allow for false perceptions to be made by unsuspecting viewers, they also increase their revenue at the cost of outputting falsified information. The majority of viewers for a lot of media outlets are not well aware of the facts in regards to criminal activity by race. "Whites misjudge how much crime is committed by African Americans and Latinos, because of the way they are portrayed on the news.” (Sentencing Project). By providing the public with this information in regards to racial minorities being at the heart of many crimes throughout the country, media networks create a norm for information especially due to the fact that the majority of their viewers are not familiar with the