Modern racism and the images of blacks in local television news

Abstract

Assessing the role of television in mediating cultural change, this paper hypothesizes that local television news simultaneously depresses the legitimacy of old‐fashioned racism (beliefs that blacks are inferior and should be segregated) and stimulates the production of modern racism (anti‐black affect combined with resentment at the continuing claims of blacks on white resources and sympathies). The effects are not intentional; rather, the paper suggests, it is partly because they seek to overcome old‐fashioned racism and respond to the viewing tastes of black audiences that local TV news programs reinforce modern racism.