Content Analysis
Seventeen. (2022). Cute hairstyles, celeb news, fun quizzes, beauty advice, and teen fashion. Web.
The editors of this magazine for teenagers repeatedly emphasize that manifestations of racism, ethnic xenophobia, and national discrimination are acute problems for many modern countries of the world. In this regard, the magazine tries to form tolerance and respect for other peoples and cultures among the younger generation (Seventeen, 2022). The characteristic features of the magazine are thematic collections of films, books, and music of people of different races. The editors and authors of the journal show a pronounced tolerant attitude towards other nationalities, races, skin colors, languages, religions, and national and social origins.
The editorial board tries to monitor the interethnic situation in America, highlighting existing problems and conflicts. In the articles dedicated to people of other races, which are on the magazine’s website, one can observe the factors of the behavior of a tolerant person. The authors of Seventeen demonstrate respect for the opinions of others, tolerance for people with different views on life, and a negative attitude toward extremism. They encourage teenage readers to adopt various forms of self-expression and personal individuality of other nationalities. The editorial board of the journal translates the norms of social behavior and morality through articles, establishing relations of equality and respect between people of different races.
GQ. (2022). Men’s style & fashion, politics, trends and culture. Web.
This magazine pays little attention to the problem of racism in particular. It is more often integrated into articles about various spheres of public life: economic development, political stability, and social aspects of the life of people of non-traditional orientation. Quite interesting initiatives in the magazine aimed at combating racism are reflected in a neutral and positive attitude towards people of different nationalities. GQ does not focus on issues related to racism. However, both light and dark-skinned main characters appear in articles with the same frequency. Thus, the editorial board of the journal develops the ideas of tolerance and loyalty to representatives of other nations and ethnic groups.
In relation to this media, tolerance manifests itself not as a psychological attitude and not as a principle of action, but as a number of discursive practices and ways to talk about characters of another race. In relation to communication during interviews with dark-skinned or Asian heroes, the authors of the magazine demonstrate tolerance, which correlates with the categories of politeness and speech etiquette (GQ, 2022). The magazine’s website follows the rules of behavior, primarily speech, to avoid discrimination, ignoring, and insulting someone on the basis of belonging to another racial group.
Allure. (2022). Beauty tips, trends & product reviews. Web.
In the practice of this media, much attention is paid to overcoming xenophobia. Editors do not use stereotypical phrases and logical moves characteristic of an intolerant discourse. As a media in a multicultural society, the authors of Allure possess the basics of a tolerant approach to covering complex problems of interaction between individual social groups, minorities, and the rest of society. This magazine really managed to get rid of unconsciously assimilated negative racial stereotypes. This publication is one of the few that are not characterized by overly dramatized messages or reproduction in the press of negative social stereotypes that can provoke affective reactions and increase psychological tension in society.
The audience of the magazine learns the placement of accents when choosing cosmetics that denote the manufacturer of a particular nationality or some racial group. The images created in Allure magazine form the idea of migrants as talented entrepreneurs. Reproduction of positive social characteristics of beauty industry figures of different races is an important step towards the formation of tolerance among the readers of the magazine. The characteristic features of the approach of the authors of the journal are openness to the other, curiosity and respect for it, the desire to learn more about the differences, and their approval (Allure, 2022). Therefore, Allure treats people of other races positively, prompting such interest from its audience.
Southern Living. (2022). Recipes, home decor, gardening, DIY and travel. Web.
Southern Living magazine is conservative. However, due to its orientation, there are mentions of people of other races, in particular, black residents of the South. Although there is no aggression and intolerance towards them, there is a division of society into polar categories of us-them. The construction of images of representatives of different nations and ethnic groups is based on the differences presented by the authors of the articles as delimiters between the white and black populations of the South (Southern Living, 2022). This practice of considering intercultural and interethnic contacts by the authors of the journal leads to the formation of ethnic stereotypes.
There is no dissemination, provocation, encouragement, or justification of racial hatred against minorities, migrants, and persons with emigrant roots in the journal. However, a specific form of speech behavior, motivated by the conservative thinking of the authors, still strengthens the barrier between people of different races. Articles about the customs of dark-skinned Southerners emphasize points that contradict the usual way of life, and this feeling causes rejection. In connection with the use of associations with the alienness of traditions in the magazine, a positive we-image of our race and a detached they-image to others are formed.
Sports Illustrated.(2022). News, expert analysis, highlights, stats and scores for the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, college football, soccer, fantasy, gambling. Web.
Journalists of this publication most often write articles about black athletes. On the site, the reader can find athletes-representatives of different races, faiths, and nationalities with different national or ethnic cultures, norms of behavior, values, and habits. However, Sports Illustrated completely lacks hostility to representatives of another nationality, religion, or culture, which leads to the emergence of various kinds of conflicts. This journal has a pronounced neutral and unbiased position towards athletes of certain nationalities. The authors adhere to the position of tolerance as indifference, representing the classical understanding of tolerance. According to this approach, the truth, the basic moral norms, and the basic rules of the political community can be established and justified indisputably and convincingly for everyone (Sports Illustrated, 2022). However, people not only share true statements but also hold different opinions. Therefore, editors and authors are tolerant of religious views, metaphysical statements, and specific values of different races. They do not encourage but also do not criticize the cultural and ethnic identity of the heroes, focusing on sports achievements while ignoring the racial affiliation of athletes.
Literature Review
Ash, E., & Cranmer, G. A. (2019). Trans contextual effects of racialized sports media framing: Students’ off the field perceptions of student-athletes. Communication & Sport, 7(15), 264-283.
This article examines the sociocultural phenomenon of racialized sports media framing. The authors note that modern sports publications often resort to discrimination against athletes of races belonging to a minority. Ash and Cranmer state that there are practically no publications that would positively relate to racial diversity. Some magazines, such as Sports Illustrated, treat racial differences neutrally, ignoring them, but most often, there is a negative perception of the information and communication practices of sports publications (Ash & Cranmer, 2019). The authors argue that regarding sports, the problem of racial discrimination is really important since only the manifestation of a tolerant attitude to the diversity of models of social behavior and the development of racial subjects of society can ensure the impartiality of competition.
Colburn, A., & Melander, L. A. (2018). Beyond black and white: An analysis of newspaper representations of alleged criminal offenders based on race and ethnicity. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 27(12), 1–22.
The article highlights how migration processes have become an integral part of modern globalization processes while having a tangible impact on the criminogenic situation of states and regions. Next, the authors talk about how the ethnic content of criminal trials is covered in the media. Colburn and Melander note that in the presence of racial factors, the political, social, economic, and legal aspects of the criminal’s personality fade into the background. Journalists often tend to emphasize the ethnic non-identity of the criminal offender of other races (Colburn & Melander, 2018). They create an image of the characteristic corporatism, clannishness, and closeness of ethnomigrants. Thus, they increase the barrier between ethnic immigrants and the host society, causing hostility and creating a stereotypical criminal image based on the racial archetype. Media publications use ethnicity as a sign of an increased predisposition to commit illegal actions.
Kumah-Abiwu, F. (2020). Media gatekeeping and portrayal of black men in America. Journal of Men’s Studies, 28(1), 64-81.
Kumah-Abiwu examined how newspaper editors act as gatekeepers. The author notes that in order to create a certain image of the black population in the mass consciousness, they carefully choose which news will go to print and which will not. The reasons for such a decision are sometimes the conscious formation of public perception of certain racial groups of the population. In some cases, the editor evaluates the material subjectively, and as a result, the news does not reach the readers because it does not correspond to the personal tastes of the gatekeeper.
This lack of reliance on ethics and professional standards of work leads to the distortion of images of blacks in the mass consciousness and the formation of racist stereotypes. As a result, stereotypical images of African Americans still define much of US culture, firmly entrenched in the media. Research by Kumah-Abiwu has shown that more than a quarter of American media characterize African Americans as lazy, criminally inclined people (Kumah-Abiwu, 2020). This attitude towards blacks in the media strongly affects how African Americans are accepted in American society.
Mitchell, T. A. (2019). Critical Race Theory (CRT) and colourism: a manifestation of whitewashing in marketing communications? Journal of Marketing Management, 36(13), 1366–1389.
Mitchell analyzes modern mass media not within the framework of non-classical but critical racial theory. According to his position, belonging to the white race was originally formed in American society as a racial characteristic. Then, it developed into a form of property and a valuable good, which later received legal protection and was actively covered in the media (Mitchell, 2019). According to the author, whitewashing in marketing communications has reached such a scale that today, belonging to the white race is not only an identification factor. It also becomes both an ideology and a stable form of social behavior, which is reflected in the mass media.
Stamps, D., & Mastro, D. (2019). The problem with protests: Emotional effects of race related news media. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 43(5), 1-27.
The authors of this article raise the problem of the impact of mass media on readers through emotional stimuli. They note that, first of all, the older generation is subject to such influence, while young people tend to evaluate information more critically. According to a study conducted by scientists, the degree of emotional impact of the mass media is very significant. It is the manipulations of the media that cause pity, hostility, or other strong emotions towards representatives of other races that are largely responsible for the formation of value racial orientations, strategies, and patterns of behavior (Stamps & Mastro, 2019). Researchers note the twofold influence of modern media on the audience. Under the emotional influence of some mass media, there are changes in the hierarchy of value orientations regarding race relations. However, a fairly large number of media outlets reinforce existing stereotypes about representatives of other races, which supports racial hostility in society.