COLUMNIST CITES NEED FOR MORE MINIORITIES IN MEDIA

"Not very well."

Those are the words Gregory Freeman uses to describe minority representation in the news media.

Freeman, who writes a social and political column for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch three days a week, was a Common Hour lecturer Wednesday at Southeast Missouri State University's University Center.

Freeman said the news media have set a poor standard for minority representation that is being perpetuated by the entertainment industry. All too often minorities -- especially African American males -- are represented as "angry, lawless, uneducated, sex-crazed idiots," he said. The result has been a blind, public acceptance of such stereotypes, he said.

"I view that as media brainwashing, and while I don't believe it's intentional, it still exists," he said.

News managers made an attempt to improve news coverage in the 1960s when there was a push to hire minority reporters, he said. The effort the following 30 years has been poor at best, but it was enough to prompt many Americans to believe the problems of representation had been fixed, he said.

Representation problems are beginning to worsen, as is evident by the declining number of minority journalists and minority-owned broadcast stations, he said. Another indicator is the large proportion of negative stories featuring African Americans and other minorities, he said.

"Hard stories make the news; heart-warming stories don't," said Freeman.

"A person is generally going to report the stories that are generated in a neighborhood they are familiar with," he said. "When they are not familiar with the neighborhood, the only stories that will usually develop are going to come from the police report."

It is that type of one-dimensional news coverage combined with under-representation of minorities in journalism that is perpetuating negative stereotypes in issues such as welfare, crime and affirmative action, he said. These stereotypes are especially harmful because they are being ingrained through televisions in the minds of many children, he said.

Freeman said more minorities should be recruited in the areas of reporting, photography and media management. Parents also need to monitor the information their children get from the media, he said.

"This country is faced with polarization that has existed for a long time," he said. "Unless definite improvements are made, the news media will not be simply reporting on American polarization, they will also continue to support it," said Freeman.