Discussions and Exercises (EXAM 1)

Question 1

Jon Stewart’s critiques of the Fox News Ferguson coverage

Answer 1

1. outrage misplaced
2. talking across privilege
3. “It’s not about race!”
4. Ignorance of Afr. Amer. leaders’ responses
5. Ignorance of history and race dynamic of ferguson
6. Ignorance of different experiences for people of color in Amer.

Question 2

Central Park jogger case - differing main arguments/news perspectives

Answer 2

Central Park Five (documentary)
- that the boys were innocent, police coerced confessions w/ ruthless interrogation methods
= the police didn’t do the right thing, they were easy suspects as persons of color so it was assumed that they did it

Newsday, NY Times (mainstream news source)
- the boys are group in w/ another “wildling” incident that occurred
= being treated unfairly, however are discussed like criminals throughout

New York Amsterdam News (black press)
- lynching, unfair, unjustified persecution
- prejudice permeates the entire process
=biased, sensation seeking public, guilty until proven innocent

See worksheet for more in depth information

Question 3

Discourse/Narrative Analysis Discussion

Answer 3

• (def) discourse: systems of text and talk that range from public to private and from naturally occurring to mediated forms
  
  • what is said? (facts/opinions)
  • how is it said? (emotions used or evoked)
  • what is not said? (aspects or facts left out)
  • who says it? (status)
• (def) narrative: how a story unfolds, considers what people places and events are included/excluded, what mythic or cultural elements are considered
  
  • where does the story begin and end?
  • what tropes, characters and myths are being used?
  • what aspects of the narrative are being emphasized?
    what aspects are passed over or de-emphasized?
  • in what manner/tone is the story told?

Question 4

Historical Roots of Stereotyping Discussion

Answer 4

• stereotypes come from social institutions
• An abbreviated history:
  
  • developed alongside the development of visual mass media
  • a response to political and cultural upheavals that came as a result of Emancipation and large scale European immigration
  • eugenics developed in late 1800s
  • spectacle became a way of providing visual evidence of inferiority promoted by eugenics advocates
  • film new tech innovation; home for stereotyping Afr. Amer.
  • over time other groups experienced stereotyping,
  • WWII - Japanese race relations became complicated
  • Jesse Owens

Question 5

What social institutions do stereotypes come from?

Answer 5

• mass media (art and lit)
• moral codes (church)
• social philosophies (informed by class, geography and social position)
• political philosophies (pol. affiliation as a regulatory social institution)

Question 6

Feminism/Symbolic Annihilation discussion

Answer 6

FEMINISM

• three waves: 1870s (suffrage) , 1970s(ish) (birth control, free love), 1990s (riot girl)
• Kathleen Hanna: “riot girl” movement, motivated much social action during 3rd wave feminism, contributed to the “man-hating feminist” stereotype

SYMBOLIC ANNIHILATION

• (def) the symbolic representation of women (and other marginalized groups) as not valued or approved of in American society; consists of absence, trivialization, and condemnation of women (and other groups) in US in media
• Hillary Clinton (condemned) and Sarah Palin (trivialized and sexualized)
• Miss Representation (mainstream media about men, framed by men, sex is the way up the ladder)