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Toronto
Star
"It's
up to media to lead society and humanity in the pursuit of justice, equality and progress"
Gerald Levin,
Head of Time Warner
Media, is our biggest challenge of the new millennium - it represents
one of the most powerful institutions in a democratic
society - the key instrument by which lives and policies are made or broken.
It can demonize saints and sanitize Satan. We are living through a
period of time when racism in media is alive and well around us.
Racism in any form is evil, but in media more so because the evolution
of technology has forced us to base our decisions on what the media
delivers.
Democracy depends on a free press. We need unbiased
information to live our lives as parents, workers, educators and most of
all, as global citizens given that the world has now become a global
village tying us all together with technology. Media is a key
provider of information, so it's critical that this coverage - whether print or electronic
- be fair and balanced.
The
form of racism used in media is subtle, rooted in terminology and hidden
under the veneer of political correctness. Scratch the surface and the
racism rears it's ugly head.
The most recent example of racism in
media, is that of Avery Haines, the CTV anchor and host who made
appallingly offensive and openly racist remarks about women, racial
minorities and people with disabilities. Reactions were quick - Haines was fired and she apologized which was taken to mean that
the matter is closed.
The most shocking outcome was the way in
which people rushed to support Haines and brush off her remarks as being
a joke. However, there is nothing funny about racist remarks
whether they are made on the air or privately.
Maybe
ten or 15 years ago, remarks like the ones made by Avery Haines could
have gone un-noticed. But today media must reflect the
multicultural diversity of Canada where in another few years,
approximately 50% of the population will be non Anglo Saxon. However
demographics and statistics don't change the make-up of newsrooms
which even today are made up of largely middle class white males
who have little or no interest in diversity or employment equity issues.
Until recently, only two newspapers across the country said they
have an ombudsman, who is essentially a watchdog for media.
One
positive result of the Haines debacle was that some soul searching did
take place. Arguments were made that the hiring practices of media
organizations be examined to see if they reflect the diversity that is
Canada today. Two students of anthropology at York University who are
also currently involved in an in-depth study of print media for
the Canadian Race Relations Foundation uncovered racism in everyday
discourse in newspapers. Their analysis is that there is heavy reliance
on stereotypes that
serve to re-enforce negative images of
minorities.
Racist discourse in media consists of words and images strung together
as an understanding of a few people who have no knowledge of the world outside their own focus.
For example the overuse of the word 'ethnic' - anyone who is non-Anglo
or non European is ethnic - in other words, we are all lumped together.
Media continues to label Asians as exotic, third world as
primitive, those who don't agree with the establishment are radical and
Muslims are terrorists or fundamentalists. Media is divided in use of
the word we - as in the white dominant culture and they
- which is everyone else who looks different or has a different set of
values.
Two Toronto academics, Professor Scott Worley of University of
Toronto and Professor Frances Henry of Ryerson's School of Journalism
have gone one step further and accused Toronto's newspapers of
practicing unconscious apartheid, using one standard for white criminals
and victims and another for visible minorities. Professor Henry says
that there is subtle racism in media. They do not take an overt or
explicitly racist stance. Yet they publish report after report in which
derogatory cultural characteristics are highlighted.
According
to research done by a leading columnist, when media was criticized for
their role in perpetuating stereotypes and racism, they responded with
the following:
-
we
can't do PR for minorities
-
we
cover institutions and not people
-
media
reflect the preferences and prejudices of society
Having
established that there is racism in media, let's not paint only a
picture of doom and gloom. Let's talk solutions. We have to
empower media to take some positive steps and:
-
change
demographics of newsrooms to fit the changing face of multicultural
Canada by hiring more women and minorities
-
bring
diversity and cultural sensitivity training into newsrooms across
the country
-
we
must try to educate before we complain
-
work
interactively
with media to criticize and appreciate
The above is an
excerpt from Raheel's speech on March 21, 2000 at the Holiday Inn, Yorkdale
for the Equity Department of the Board of Education on the occasion of
the International Day of Elimination of Racism)
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