It's Time to Add Whites to the Race Beat

The Maynard Institute's Dori Maynard argues on the institute's web site that the news media need to include whites in their coverage of the race beat. Here's why:During the debate over health care reform, some white protesters hurled racial epithets at black elected officials and even spit on one.Later that same week, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported on a movement to have people write in "Confederate Southern American"as their race on the 2010 Census. Most recently, the governor of Virginia declared April Confederate History Month, initially issuing aproclamation that failed to mention slavery.

At the Maynard Institute, the nation's oldest organization dedicated to helping the news media accurately and fairly portray all segments of our society, our framework for examining diversity includes race, class, gender, generation and geography. When it comes to race, we have always said white counts, too.

It is time for the "mainstream" media to mirror that model and incorporate coverage of the white population into the race beat. That beat emerged during the 1960's civil rights and black power movements. Prior to that time, people of color were largely ignored by white-owned media.

While purposely covering communities of color was meant to make up for the sins of the past, in many instances it has meant that thosemedia have often looked at people of color solely through the prism of race.

The rest of the article is posted here.

Source:Maynard Institute for Journalism Education.