Minorities in TV newsrooms (2006):
http://www.nabj.org/newsroom/story/49993p-76533c.html

Minorities in print newsrooms (2004 & 2005):
http://www.asne.org/index.cfm?ID=5648
http://www.asne.org/index.cfm?ID=6264

Some definitions from last week:
Schema theory says that humans use “organized knowledge … abstracted from prior experiences” to process new info and to retrieve stored info (Graber, 1988).

Stereotyping fits with schema theory. Walter Lippmann in Public Opinion (1922) Walter Lippmann (1922) coined the term, which literally means “solid model.” He wrote that “the real environment is altogether too big, too complex, too fleeting for direct acquaintance. We are not equipped to deal with so much subtlety, so much variety, so many permutations & combinations.” However, stereotypes also are one dimensional, perjorative, and powerful identifiers that may seep into our schema.

Zingrone and “simplex,” as in mass media can only produce simplex--this also fits with schema and stereotyping, since our world is complex, but mass media can produce only simple ideas.

Agenda-setting theory: Long-held theory which states that media don’t tell people what to think, but rather, tell people what to think about.

Uses and gratification theory: Newer theory which states that media are best understood from viewpoint of audience, rather than from power of media or communicator. It asks "What do people do with media?" In this theory, audience is active, and media compete with other sources of need satisfaction.

Gerbner and other researchers believe that heavy exposure to cultural products (media) affect a person’s concept of reality (p. 108 in textbook). Social learning theory (Bandura) says that people model behavior that they see in others or from television/film (pp. 127 and 136 in textbook).

A helpful guiding philosophy for our class might be Anthony Appiah's "cosmopolitanism," which means not crude worldliness or colonialism. It's an informed cultural understanding, not just a traveler’s fleeting and shallow perspective. He works to find a way for cultures to agree on conversation and respect, when they can’t agree on values or truth; and he believes that “everybody matters.” Might also be a good method for journalists, who should resist stereotypes for something more substantive.