Assailants or Saints?: Racial, Ethnic, and Gender Depictions on a Social Media Based City News Website

Recommended Citation Hochschild, Thomas R. Jr.; Alvarez-Rivera, Lorna; Hightower, Rikki; Zeaser, Alison; Prain, Taylor; and Lewis, Ra'Shone (2018) "Assailants or Saints?: Racial, Ethnic, and Gender Depictions on a Social Media Based City News Website," The Journal of Public and Professional Sociology: Vol. 10 : Iss. 2 , Article 5. Available at: https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/jpps/vol10/iss2/5


Introduction
Social scientists have long been interested in the relationship between mass media and society. Max Weber believed that the media reflects the 'cultural temperature' of society, and called for a large-scale content analysis of the press at the first meeting of the German Sociological Society in 1910 (Hansen et al., 1998). Media, in its many forms, can both reflect and shape the collective consciousness of a society. Ideologies, cultural trends, and product endorsements are transmitted through media outlets, and are either accepted, challenged, or ignored by media consumers.
Media representations of particular demographic groups are significant because these representations can shape how group members view themselves, and how non-members perceive the group (Hall, 1997). Consistently negative portrayals of a group can lead to self-loathing and the internalization of guilt for various social problems (hooks, 1992). Conversely, groups portrayed in a positive light can develop feelings of superiority and solidarity as they blame other groups for social problems. This blame can then be used to justify various forms of out-group oppression (Collins, 2004).
News organizations have significant power to characterize certain groups positively or negatively. Indeed, 88% of Americans report that they receive news from a news organization such as a newspaper, TV newscast, website, or newswire (American Press Institute, 2014).
Through story selection, framing, and source selection, news producers can portray members of certain demographic groups positively as heroic, intelligent, creative, or compassionate. Or, depictions can be negative so that certain groups are portrayed as violent, untrustworthy, incompetent, or lazy.
In the U.S., news organizations rely heavily on stories about street crime to boost ratings and advertising revenue (Beale, 2006). These stories garner significant attention because they elevate perceptions of risk, and fear of victimization (Callanan, 2012;Glassner, 2009;Heath, 1984;Liska and Baccaglini, 1990). U.S. news organizations capitalize on this fear as stories pertaining to crime typically account for 13%-25% of newspaper and television news content (Surette, 2011). However, this massive coverage of street crime contradicts the data, which shows that crime rates in the U.S. have declined considerably since the early 1990's (Lofstrom & Raphael, 2016).
Racial and ethnic groups may be over-represented or under-represented as criminals in the news relative to actual arrest rates. For example, the FBI's Uniform Crime Report indicates that Whites consistently account for approximately 69% of the total number of arrests for all chargeable offenses, while Blacks account for approximately 28% (see FBI UCR Publications 1995. American Indian, Alaskan Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian, or other Pacific Islander account for approximately 2.5% of arrests, while Hispanics and Latinos constitute 18% of those arrested. However, research indicates that print and television news consistently over-represents Blacks, Hispanics, and Latinos as criminals (e.g., Bjornstrom et al., 2010;Brennan & Vandenberg, 2009;Color of Change, 2015;Dixon & Linz, 2000a, 2000bEntman, 1992;Entman & Rojecki, 2000;Gilliam & Iyengar, 2000;Oliver, 2003). Conversely, Whites are more likely to be portrayed as police officers, judges, reporters, news anchors, or victims in news programs (Dixon & Linz, 2000a, 2000bDixon et al., 2003;Dixon, 2015;Gilliam et al., 1996;Oliver, 2003).
News organizations also contribute to negative stereotypes when they use mugshots of those accused or convicted of a crime. The long-lasting stigma that accompanies a news mugshot can be devastatingeven when the alleged perpetrator is found not guilty (Lashmar, 2013). For many news consumers, a criminal mugshot automatically insinuates guilt and moral inferiority (Fahrny, 2014;Lain, 1986). People who have their mugshot photo taken often exhibit faces of despair, disheveled hair, or are wearing jail jump suits, all of which contribute to perceptions of guilt.
Further contributing to the demonization of Blacks, Hispanics, and Latinos is the fact that news organizations neglect discussions of the sociological correlates of crime. Instead, news consumers are presented with simplified characterizations of 'bad people' doing 'bad things.' This common news practice of insinuating guilt by de-sociologizing crime reduces public understanding and empathy for those accused of crimes, making it easier to rebuke and punish them. Additionally, de-sociologizing crime shifts the onus for social problems correlated with crime from society to the individual. Some of these crime correlates include failing schools, neighborhood condition, the availability of illegal drugs, poverty, inequality, unemployment, and a lack of collective neighborhood efficacy (DeLisi & Vaughn, 2016;Ellis et al., 2009;Fajnzylber et al., 2002;Hsieh & Pugh, 1993;Pratt & Cullin, 2005;Sampson et al., 1997).

Scapegoat and Racial Threat Theories
Several leading theoretical perspectives offer insight as to why certain racial and ethnic minorities are overrepresented as criminals in the news media. Scapegoat and racial threat theories focus on conflict and power to understand why certain groups endure various forms of social persecution. According to the scapegoat theory of intergroup conflict, any group in power has social, economic, and political incentives to blame other groups for various social problems (Hammer, 2007). The primary incentive is to justify disparities in group power. Economic inequality, disproportionate political representation, disparities in educational and health outcomes, and differential incarceration rates can be maintained if a group in power can use the media to convince others that less powerful groups are blameworthy for their plight. Less powerful groups may be depicted as unintelligent, lazy, weak, or lacking in moral character. This group suppression can be based on race, ethnicity, gender, social class, disability, sexual orientation, age, or any other meaningful social characteristic.
Racial threat theory also focuses on conflict but maintains that race and ethnicity are the primary determinants of social persecution (Dollar, 2014). Racial threat theory contends that an increase in the population of a racial or ethnic minority group leads to fear on behalf of the majority group. This fear stems from the possibility that the emerging group will usurp economic, political, and cultural power. Consequently, the majority group responds with heightened social control and targeted persecution of the minority group. Historically, Whites have held this power in the U.S. and have galvanized when other groups are perceived to threaten these forms of power. Whites have used institutional apparatus to blame non-Whites for social problems such as unemployment, poverty, the prevalence of drugs and violence, the corruption of youth, overpopulation, terrorism, and a perceived decline in morality (e.g., Alexander, 2010;Blackmon, 2009;Bonilla-Silva, 2014;Bosworth and Flavin, 2007;Bowman, 2014;Haney-López, 2014;Hochschild, 2016;Kimmel, 2013;Zinn, 2005). These campaigns have resulted in rigorous racialized practices that have protected Whites' power and privilege.
Scapegoat and racial threat theorists argue that federal and state legislatures, the criminal justice system, and the news media are institutional tools used by Whites to maintain power.
Biased laws, discriminatory police practices, unjust court systems, ineffectual corrections systems, and prejudiced news producers ensure that a steady and disproportionate flow of non-Whites are available as news media spectacle. For Whites, these news portrayals result in sentiments of in-group superiority and solidarity as they condemn the deviant behaviors and criminals presented by news producers. Simultaneously, Whites absolve themselves of feelings of responsibility or guilt for their role in creating and perpetuating social problems correlated with criminal behavior. For non-Whites, the ceaseless news spectacle of dark-skinned criminal images can result in the internalization of White supremacist ideology, self-blame, and selfloathing (Davis, 1981;hooks, 1992).

Power Structure and Market Share Theories
Power structure and market share theories focus on the ideologies and relative economic power of those who produce and consume news. According to the power structure perspective, news stories are selected based on the worldview of those who control media content (Van Dijk, 1995). Because the vast majority of print and television media has been controlled by affluent White Christian heterosexual able-bodied males, they have been more likely to portray themselves in a positive light. Innumerable portrayals of heroic, intelligent, strong, expert White men have saturated the U.S. and global marketplace. Conversely, people who do not meet these criteria are more likely to be portrayed in a negative or less-than-flattering light (e.g., Heider, 2000;Ibrahim & Halim, 2013;Klein & Naccarato, 2003;Moody, 2012;Poindexter al., 2003;Sanchez, 2012).
Power structure theory maintains that news producers often import personal biases into their work which may be based on race, ethnicity, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion, political ideology, or economic philosophy. These biases can affect story selection, media framing, and source selection. News producers' decisions may be a conscious attempt to promote in-group interests or preferred ideologies. Or, decisions may be unconscious so that reporters, editors, and producers are not cognizant that the stories they tell marginalize others (Heider, 2000). In either case, the demographic composition of the media power structure ensures the widespread dissemination of news producers' ideological interests.
The market share perspective makes a different argument about what drives story selection. Due to intense competition among news organizations for market share, media staff experience pressure to focus on stories that draw news consumers (Chermak, 1994;Sheley and Ashkins, 1981). Stories that appeal to predominant ideologies of the target audience, or that are sensationalistic, are more likely to draw and keep news consumers. For example, conservative news consumers are more likely to read and support newspapers that provide a conservative perspective. The market share perspective maintains that economic profit, rather than ideological interests or accurate representations of the world, is the primary driver of news decisions.
Because White Christians are the largest racial and religious groups in the U.S. (Pew Research Center, 2015a; U.S. Census Bureau, 2010), news producers have a financial incentive to appeal to this demographic by satiating their demand for positive in-group portrayals and negative out-group portrayals. Positive news portrayals of Whites increases viewership and readership, which results in increased advertising revenue and larger profits. These news consumers are also appeased when notions of in-group superiority are supported by stereotypes of other groups as unintelligent, lazy, or violent.

Methods
For this study, we emulate the content analysis research approach of Dixon and colleagues (2015Dixon and colleagues ( , 2003Dixon and colleagues ( , 2000aDixon and colleagues ( , 2000b, as well as others (Gilliam et al., 1996;Heider, 2000;Ibrahim & Halim, 2013;Klein & Naccarato, 2003;Moody, 2012;Oliver, 2003;Poindexter al., 2003;Sanchez, 2012), to ascertain whether an online-only social media based city news organization in the Southeastern U.S. portrays people differently depending on their race, ethnicity, or gender. While scholars have paid considerable attention to these portrayals in traditional broadcast news and print media, little attention has been paid to online-only news websites and social media based news. This lack of attention is unfortunate considering the enormous growth and popularity of online-only newspapers and social media (see Pew Research Center, 2015b. Social media platforms have also changed the way people receive news, with 62% of U.S. adults now getting their news from platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Tumblr, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Snapchat, and Vine (Pew Research Center, 2016b).
The news organization we analyzed is an online-only city news source that provides hometown news, national news, and editorial pieces about social, political, and economic issues.
We selected this hometown news source because it publishes numerous stories about local crime, philanthropy, and civic awards. For the sake of anonymity, we are using a pseudonym and referring to the news outlet as 'CityWeb.' CityWeb is a relatively new alternative to the city's one print newspaper. Over 20,000 people have 'liked' CityWeb on Facebook, and consequently receive news feeds from this social media platform. Over 3,000 others get news updates by following CityWeb on Twitter. The news website's first edition appeared February 1, 2013. All of their news stories are archived by month and can be viewed on their website for free.
Altogether, we examined 8,142 stories ranging from February 2013 to May 2016.
The news organization is located in a metropolitan statistical area in a Southeastern state.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2010)  The six authors/coders for this study are demographically diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, and age, which was helpful while determining the race or ethnicity of photographed individuals, whom we refer to as 'targets.' 1 Our independent variables are 'race/ethnicity' and 'gender.' Our four dependent variables are 'criminal mugshot,' 'race/ethnicity mentioned in text,' 'philanthropy photo,' and 'award photo.' We present our data as frequency distributions in tables below.
For representations of 'criminality' we were interested in two primary variables. The first is whether CityWeb used a mugshot of individuals arrested or convicted of a crime. Based on the aforementioned theories and previous research, we wanted to ascertain whether CityWeb was more or less likely to use mugshot photographs for certain racial or ethnic groups. Even though the majority of targets in our study had not been found guilty at the time the story was published, mugshots accompanied many of their stories. News organizations want their stories to appear current, and rarely wait until suspects have been found guilty or not guilty before running a story.
CityWeb frames all of the mugshots within a standardized blue and purple background, making it easy for regular readers to instantly recognize that the story pertains to crime.
Our second criminality variable pertains to whether CityWeb mentioned the race or ethnicity of the alleged criminal in the text of the story. In some instances, CityWeb did not use a photograph, but mentioned the race and gender of the person suspected, arrested, or convicted of a crime. While it has become the industry standard to avoid using racial or ethnic identifiers unless they are essential to the story, CityWeb used these identifiers in 140 stories.
While the majority of crime stories pertained to CityWeb's geographical region, it also reported on crimes in other parts of the country. It was clear that these stories were selected because the suspect was accused of a bizarre crime, or because he or she looked unusual in the mugshot. Some of these stories include a woman smuggling drugs inside burritos, a man who had sex with a goat, a weed dealer wearing a beard on only one side of his face, and a man who called 911 because his mom smoked all their methamphetamine. These sensationalistic stories were clear attempts to arouse interest in the news website. Because CityWeb cherrypicked numerous crime stories from across the country, we believe that it is empirically sound to compare criminal representations on the website to national crime statistics.
Our third variable pertains to 'philanthropy photo.' In order for a target to be coded as a philanthropist, they had to either be performing community service outside the normal parameters of their job, or had to be donating money to a pro-social cause. While some of the targets donated money as individuals, most donated as part of a business or other organization.
Some of the photographs that met our philanthropy criteria featured people in the act of performing community service. Other photos featured a representative of an organization handing an over-sized check to a representative of a pro-social organization. There were no stories about philanthropy that mentioned race or ethnicity in the text of the story.
Our fourth variable is non-sports 'award photo'. For the purposes of this study, the award had to pertain to business, academics, or a civic achievement. These types of awards connote upstanding character and positive social impact in the community. We excluded sports awards because we are not interested in recognition based on physical prowess in the athletic domain.
Many award photographs featured a representative of an organization handing over a plaque, trophy, medal or ribbon to the recipient. There were no stories about an award that mentioned race or ethnicity in the text of the story.

Data Criminality
As shown in Table 1, CityWeb was more likely to use mugshots for Black males than for any other demographic group, with 207 out of 476 total mugshot photos. Black males represent 43.5% of all of the mugshot photographs on the news website from February 2013 to May 2016.
There were 148 mugshot photos of White males (31.1%), 70 White females (14.7%), 28 Black females (5.9%), 17 Hispanic males (3.6%), 3 Hispanic females (0.6%), and 3 Asian males (0.6%). This finding is in line with previous research, which demonstrates that Black males are far more likely to be portrayed as criminals than any other demographic group (e.g., Color of Change, 2015; Dixon and Linz, 2000a). We also noted a tendency for CityWeb to exclude facial photographs when people of high status were charged or convicted of a crime. Some examples of stories without an accompanying photograph include: • A state representative convicted of driving while under the influence of alcohol.
• A former state legislator sentenced to prison for tax fraud.
• A former state Senate candidate indicted for stealing from a charity.
• A state attorney who suffocated his daughter by leaving her in a hot car.
• A mayor (who was also the police chief) arrested for sexual solicitation.
• Several stories about bank CEOs charged with bank fraud.
• A doctor charged with his wife's murder.
• Several attorneys charged with stealing money or selling drugs.
• Several pharmacists charged with illegal distribution of pharmaceutical drugs.
• A former police chief convicted of commercial gambling and extortion.
• A police officer who killed his ex-wife and her boyfriend.
• A former local police officer indicted for sexual exploitation.
• An insurance agent caught embezzling money from clients.
Through online investigation we determined that almost all of these high-status targets were White males. Furthermore, we found that it would have been fairly easy for CityWeb to locate photographs of these individuals online. Rather, these alleged and convicted criminals were spared the indignity of having their photograph posted along with the news story.
It is significant to note that on CityWeb's website there is a sidebar of what are referred to as 'popular posts' that scroll down along with synopses of the stories. Popular posts always feature a photograph and headline that the reader can click to access the full story.
Disproportionately, mugshots of Black men dominated the 'popular post' section of the website.
If these stories were indeed the most popular, perhaps determined by the number of clicks, readers were disproportionately drawn to stories of Black male criminality. Further contributing to the portrayal of Black men as criminals is the fact that CityWeb's 'popular posts' often pop up on people's Facebook and Twitter feeds.

Philanthropy
As shown in Table 2, White females were far more likely to be portrayed as philanthropists than any other racial/ethnic or gender group, constituting 418 out of 723 (57.8%) total philanthropy targets. White males were the next likeliest group to be portrayed as philanthropists at 159 (22.0%), then 95 Black females (13.1%), 35 Black males (4.8%), 4 Arab females (0.6%), 3 Hispanic females (0.4%), 3 Asian males (0.4%), 2 Hispanic males (0.3%), 2 Arab males (0.3%), and 2 Asian females (0.3%). Collectively, Whites constituted 79.8% of all people portrayed as philanthropists. Almost all of the philanthropy photographs are staged so that the targets are smiling while donning nice outfits or community service t-shirts. With approximately 80% of the philanthropy targets being White, CityWeb readers are exposed to a consistent news stream of White benevolence. In contrast, many recipients of philanthropy in the photographs were Black children. Through online investigation, we discovered that the city boasts numerous Black prosocial community organizations, Black churches that perform community service, Black students at the local college who help the community in a variety of ways, and Black-owned businesses that give back to the community. These organizations and their philanthropy were rarely reported in CityWeb.

Awards
As shown in Table 3, White females were also most likely to be portrayed as (non-sports) award recipients. Out of 1,045 total award photographs, 476 (45.6%) were of White women.
Collectively, only 17 out of 1,045 (1.6%) award-winning targets were either Hispanic, Asian, or Arab. CityWeb readers are exposed to a constant flow of Whites portrayed as upstanding members of the community. It may be the case that local committees in charge of determining award worthiness are less likely to bestow awards to non-Whites. Or, it may be the case that CityWeb simply does not report many non-White award winners. The answers to these questions are outside the scope of this paper. Regardless of the reason, CityWeb's readers consistently receive the message that non-Whites are rarely worthy of awards.

Discussion
The present research demonstrates that while technology is changing the way people consume news, racial, ethnic, and gender biases continue to affect the way various groups are portrayed in the news. Black males were disproportionately portrayed as criminals, and rarely portrayed as philanthropists or award winners. Furthermore, we discovered that website design and social media interfaces can exacerbate these biases, as CityWeb's 'popular posts' feature increased the likelihood that readers would be exposed to Black male mugshots. In contrast to these negative depictions, Whites were far more likely to be portrayed as philanthropists and award winners.
Our results offer strong support for scapegoat theory, which states that groups with the most social, political, and economic power blame less powerful groups for various social problems. In line with scapegoat theory, Black males were disproportionately portrayed as responsible for crimesespecially violent crimes and the sale or use of illegal drugs. The power structure perspective is also supported by the fact that Hispanics, Asians, and Arabs were rarely portrayed in a positive light. Collectively, these groups constituted only 2.2% of philanthropists and 1.6% of award winnerswell below the demographic composition of the city and county. Gerbner (1972) and Tuchman (1978) have referred to this omission of minority groups as 'symbolic annihilation.' Minority groups are often erased from the media landscape, and White Christian media consumers are presented with a false reality unreflective of our diverse society.
Ascertaining the validity of the market share perspective is problematic because it is difficult to determine the race, ethnicity, and gender of CityWeb's online news consumers.
However, we can make some assessments about the market share perspective based on the demographic composition of the county and city of the news site. The present analysis demonstrates the importance of intersectional approaches to understanding positive and negative group portrayals in the news media. Within racial and ethnic groups, we found considerable variation as to how men and women were portrayed. We also discovered preferential treatment for upper-class people of high status. Other social characteristics such as religion, disability, sexual orientation, citizenship status, and physical attractiveness also affect how people are portrayed in the news. As hooks (1981,1992), Davis (1981), and Collins (2000Collins ( , 2004 have noted, analyses that focus on one type of oppression invariably fall short because oppression cannot be reduced to one fundamental type. Within what Collins (2000:18) calls the 'matrix of domination' the news media excludes, belittles, or demonizes people based on their membership in a cross-section of marginalized groups. So, the news media may demonize Blacks, belittle women, and pity the disabled in discrete ways.
However, media portrayals of Black women with disabilities entail the compounded effects of these cross-sectional portrayals. The result is what we refer to as the 'cumulative effects of othering.' In other words, the additive consequence of each negative characterization as the 'other' is greater than the discrete combination of these effects. Black women with a disability become exponentially marginalized if they are poor, a lesbian, Muslim, or lack citizenship status.