Abstracts Category : Other

Broadcast News Directors' Perceptions of Race: A Survey of Psychological and Sociological Measures

by Amaya Nichele Worthem

Understanding the role of media in the lives of consumers has been a longstanding concern of various scholars. Although the news media do not tell consumers what to think explicitly, they do imply what consumers should think, via the contexts in which news is presented. The central thrust of this thesis is a psychological and sociological perception study of news directors implicit and explicit perceptions of race when creating news content. The aim is to discover whether an implicit or explicit racial bias can be found amongst some news directors when covering racial minority groups. A better understanding of bias provides valuable insights on what media practices to utilize when covering diverse groups. Results lacked support that news directors exhibited any form of racial bias. Although the general assumption of the study was unsupported, the study provided possible realms for future research to study the history of negative perceptions of mass media content in terms of racial minority groups. This study has contributed and provided substantial support that broadcast news directors at network affiliate stations do not exhibit implicit or explicit racial bias. Advisors/Committee Members: Paul Traudt, Julian Kilker, Gary Larson, Robert Parker.