Media Racism and Stereotypes:
Challenged by Black Personalities and Media Coalition Groups

That all black people are not alike should be fairly evident in post-colonial big-city Britain. Take a trip to Brixton, a well-known black district in London. There you'll find a diverse mix: the care-worn down-and-outers, yes, but also the daily labouring classes, the home owning strivers, and the high achievers working in the City. Yet, the monochromatic view of black people as scrounging immigrants, dysfunctional families, drug-dealing thugs and pimps is a major feature of the British press. This race-tinged proclivity to tar all blacks with the same brush has finally stirred a response among black communities, researchers and media ethics groups.

Probing questions, powerful sentiments
Uniquely, four black stars, widely popular in Britain, have spoken out for the first time on being black in a white society. The quartet are the comedian Lenny Henry, the pop music impresario Jazzy B, the designer Ozwald Boateng and the track star Linford Christie. Interviewed in Untold, Peter Akinti's new life-style magazine for black men, the four, who many think of as super-heroes, targeted media portrayal as a crucial issue.

Caption left to right: Jazzy B, Linford Christie, Lenny Henry and Qzwald Boateng

Christie summed up the general feeling when he said, "Black people on the whole have had a bad experience with the media. It's one of the reasons why we've had such a hard time in this country". This comment raises probing questions. Why don't blacks get the media exposure they deserve? What can be done to get more positive images in the news media?

Pressing for positive images is now firmly on the agenda of the nation's successful black people. Black high-achievers featured in Don MacLellan's exhibition on Black Achievement in Britain have expressed hopes for a world without stereotyped images of black people. Barbara Tomlin-Lindsay, a senior civil servant, feels that redressing unacceptable media practices and encouraging diversity in Britain's newsrooms would be a welcome start in the right direction.

"Race" in the media is linked to violence, danger and crime
There is research enough to back up their opinions. The media tends to see black people as a police and welfare problem, not as assets to society, says Ian Law of the Race and Public Policy Research Unit, University of Leeds. The report "Race in the British News" criticised news coverage in the run-up to the 1997 General Election that swept the Labour Party into government. Law found that one-quarter of news items conveyed a negative message about minority groups while ignoring the social problems they faced. Constant media themes link "race" to violence, danger, and crime. Scant attention is given to overcoming the barriers to jobs, houses and schooling among a population hard hit by recurring economic crises.

"Immigration scare stories" in television and press coverage are shrouded in racist overtones, says Lisa Beattie of the Glasgow Media Research Group. Slanted stories prevented reasoned discussion of immigration, the most sensitive public policy issue of the mid-1990s, she says. Beattie's report on Migration and the Media points to the frequent use of evocative words like the "flood" and "tidal wave" of immigrants. They give an image of an impending catastrophe threatening the survival of Britain and European nations.

Damaging effects on news reporting in today's urban society
These words of moral menace, and the attitudes and practices behind them, are deep-rooted. Much of the rhetoric in the daily press reflects deep-rooted post-colonial xenophobia, says Richard Keeble, a journalism lecturer at London's City University, in his book The Newspapers Handbook 1998.

Little wonder that uncontested, racialised words and damaging images breed unhindered in a largely white male-dominated industry. Many media professionals live isolated from urban life, and have little understanding of black inner city areas. There are few black colleagues at the desks around them to correct their limited vision of black people.

Hence, when crucial decisions are made in the newsroom about what stories to select, what priority to give them and how to present a story, blacks are non-existent. The judgements and choices made are based therefore on assumptions that are not informed by, and are often dangerous to, blacks and minority ethnic groups.

What can be done?
A growing number of black and media activist groups aim to change this situation. Among them are the Community Media Association, the National Union of Journalists Black Members Council, the Commission for Racial Equality, the black-led 1990 Trust, and the Freedom Forum Europe Centre. PressWise, a media advice group, brought the groups together in a major forum and published a report aptly titled "Tell it like it is...Ethnic Minorities and the Media".

All agree that challenging the media regulation bodies is an important step, says Mike Jempson, executive director of PressWise. But the powers and responsibilities of regulatory bodies are more apparent than real. The evidence shows that there are few laws to curb inaccurate, pejorative reporting about blacks and ethnic minorities.

Press Complaints Commission
The Press Complaints Commission, funded by the press industry, runs an entirely voluntary system based on Codes of Practice. The relevant clauses dealing with race are of little use, says Martin Edwards, a media research student. They merely call upon newspapers to avoid "prejudicial or pejorative references to a person's race, colour or religion", and to refrain from "publishing such details about a person, unless (it is) directly relevant to the story."

As a result, says Bob Borzello, a former US journalist, "Not one of the 600 or so complaints made to the Press Complaints Commission since 1991 about alleged racism in the Press has been upheld. In fact, the vast majority of them are not even allowable complaints under PCC rules", says Borzello. Crucially, says Borzello, the right for third party's to file complaints about discriminatory language and racist stereotypes in the British press must be won.

Caption : Bob Borzello

Broadcasting Standards Commission
In broadcasting the regulators' limitations are obvious. The Broadcasting Standards Commission covers public service and commercial broadcasting, including radio, satellite, cable and digital TV, and broadcast advertisements. But Stephen Whittle, BSC director, says his guidelines for broadcasters deal primarily with matters of taste and decency and complaints against fairness and accuracy. Broadcasting companies are obliged to publish corrections and apologies where appropriate, but the BSC has no power to fine broadcasters or award compensation to complainants.

Radio Authority Commission
Another regulatory body, the Radio Authority Commission, assigns frequencies, issues licences and regulates the technical and contractual obligations of independent radio stations. In the area of race however its codes of practice focus solely on the statutory requirements of the Race Relations and Public Order acts against stirring up race hatred.

Independent Television Commission
Commercial TV has few procedures for tackling racism. Steve Perkins of the Independent Television Commission, a statutory licencing body for all commercially funded TV services, is clear about ITC's role. It is to monitor technical quality and contractual obligations and to regulate programme and advertising standards. The ITC can levy fines and revoke licences for infringements, though not necessarily on charges of racism.

British Broadcasting Corporation
The British Broadcasting Corporation, the sole public radio and television body, is unique in all race and media discussions. John Birt, director-general of the BBC, has declared in a corporation report his commitment to a public service accountable to the people through Parliament. The BBC's guidelines proclaim support of the Race Relations and Public Order acts. Producers are asked to "avoid stereotypes", and to portray a full range of social roles in programmes. In Birt's view, however, reporting and reflecting prejudice and disadvantage, and doing nothing to perpetuate them, is the BBC remit, not social engineering, as some critics would like.

So, how to place minority concerns into media reporting and editorial policy? What can be done to change the mono-dimensional portrayal of blacks in the media?

The PressWise forum gave "those on the receiving end of discrimination a chance to express their views and challenge the power of the media", says Mike Jempson. Delegates called for strategies to change the tone and methods of media reporting. Groups of media workers proposed introducing non-racialist reporting techniques into newsrooms and journalism schools. Media activists and community leaders urged lobbying for media changes and more responsible journalism practices.

Jim Pines, writer, researcher and lecturer at the University of Luton criticised the BBC's obsession with the "trash element of Black culture" in its entertainment programmes. He condemned programmes "feeding on stereotypes and contributing little to the creation of a new image for Black people". Delegates seized the opportunity to bring pressure on BBC executives seated in the audience. They demanded Black drama programmes, and a more positive portrayal of black characters in soap operas, like the popular EastEnders.

In response, David Docherty, Deputy Director of BBC TV admitted that the BBC could do more for ethnic minorities. The BBC had no plans for a black drama programme, but was making a four-part series on the slave trade. In addition, he proudly announced a BBC season of programmes to mark the 50th anniversary of the historic arrival of Caribbean immigrants to Britain aboard the SS Empire Windrush.

Admittedly, says the PressWise report, "The media did not invent the racism that sours British society, and many mainstream journalists and editors would sign up to an editorial policy that sought to exacerbate racial tension". Nevertheless, newspapers, radio and television bear a heavy responsibility for the way in which different sectors of society view each other. There is a prevalent attitude of "Carelessness, lack of sensitivity, and a willingness to profit by catering to the lowest common denominator among readers with populist xenophobic headlines". These factors "contribute to a prevailing atmosphere of fear and anxiety among ethnic minorities," says the report.

Race and the Media: Time for change
Redressing issues of race and the media must begin by the industry accepting that changes are necessary. Codes must help, not circumvent or hinder, the cause of social harmony. Aid and assistance is needed for journalists who want to build up their capabilities in reporting urban public affairs. Blacks in partnership with the news industry, unions and media ethics groups must begin the long process of public learning about race issues in the media. Use must be made of the skills of veteran black journalists and NUJ members such as Dr. Beulah Ainley, Alex Pascall, Lionel Morrison and Jim Boumelha.

Caption : Alex Pascall

Charles Husband writing from a European human rights perspective in A Richer Vision, a UNESCO publication, attests to the long struggle to change media images of blacks and disadvantaged ethnic minorities. He says many victories have been won by pressure from communities, liberal pressure groups, working journalists and academics. Stereotypes in the media have been reduced to some degree. He concludes, however, "much remains to be done".

Britain's black communities, in Brixton and elsewhere would doubtless agree. But change may come sooner rather than later. By accident or cynical design, some newspapers, like the Daily Mail's headlining of the alleged killers of black youth Stephen Lawrence, are discovering the needs and demands of the "black reading public". This makes good sense in multi-racial and multi-cultural urban societies. In London, for example, one in five city dwellers is of West Indian, Asian or African descent--and the proportion is rising. Continued ignorance or disregard of this growing proportion of citizens and news consumers is not a wise policy for the media industry, its regulatory bodies, and government policy makers.

Caption : Doreen Lawrence, Stephen's mother