Media, Print

The audience for print news media is decidedly different from the television news media audience. Those who read newspapers are more likely to have a higher degree of education and higher economic status than persons who rely on television news. This entry discusses print media and its presentation of images and depictions of race and crime.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, American newspapers were very different from those of today. Newspapers were geared toward an elite audience and were highly subjective. In 1833, [Page 492]The New York Sun was the first to produce a newspaper for a wider audience; this led to the creation of a new form of highly sensationalistic journalism. This ratings-geared style of journalism is still present today, cloaked by a claim to objectivity. Then and now, news media are owned and operated mostly by Whites, which can create a bias in reporting. Even well-intentioned journalists may rely on racist or stereotypical themes and narratives.

More recently there has been a transformation of the print media industry. Newspapers are increasingly owned by a few large corporations and are geared toward a wide audience. Advertising typically constitutes 50% or more of newspaper content and, according to the Newspaper Association of America, it accounts for 75% to 80% of a newspaper's revenue. In an effort to capture audiences with the spending power to purchase advertisers' products and services, newspapers and magazines try to appeal to readers whom they think will have the greatest buying power. News that is covered is primarily local and more in-depth than television news. Minorities are not completely absent from print media; for example, today there are more than 200 Black newspapers published in the United States, and according to the Latino Print Network, Spanish-language newspapers had a circulation of 17.8 million in 2006. Nevertheless, the modern news landscape is made up primarily of Whites. Media ownership tends to be even less diverse than the newsrooms. This creates a climate in which the interests of minorities are often underrepresented if not ignored.