This week, we read two great articles about how internet access affected various racial and ethnic groups. Ernest Wilson III's article, "New Voices on the Net?" made several great points that I would love to comment on. As an African American female and a English and Journalism major, I agree that the media continues to perpetuate inequality via lack of representation or a skewed and inaccurate representation of minority groups. I also believe that African American and other minority journalist have a special role in the newsroom. As Wilson put it best, "stories told by those who have lived them carry an unmatched power to enlighten and inform."
I'll use my own experience as a anecdote. One day in my Magazine Writing class here at Emory, we were all asked to choose a magazine to learn more about over the semester and bring it into the next class. The class was abuzz with, "I having a hard time deciding if I want to choose Cosmo or Teen Vogue," and "I'm obsessed with GQ!" At the beginning of the next class, everyone settled down into their chairs and grabbed their magazines from their sorority letter bags or backpacks. I saw everything from Rolling Stone, Cosmo, Vogue, GQ, Atlanta Magazine, Good Fitness, and so on. But not once did I see a person of color on the front of any of those publications. For the first time in my life, I felt like a complete alien. I brought out my magazine and immediately slid it under my laptop so nobody else could see. Was I ashamed? No. Was I embarrassed? No. But the feeling of "sticking out" made me extremely uncomfortable.
Later during the class period, it was my turn to present my magazine. The class presentations went more or less like this: you talk about said magazine, its demographic, distribution, content, style/tone, etc. Presentation after presentation, the demographic was white women aged 18-35 with a medium income of $60,000, the tone was "preppy" and "quirky," and all their stories were about "How to Get a Great Butt FAST!" or "How To Make Your Crush Your Boyfriend". Where's the variety? (That's when I come in.) I did my presentation on Ebony Magazine. It was the only magazine in the class targeted towards a racial minority group, the only magazine in the room with a person who looks relatively like me on the cover, the only magazine that makes me feel comfortable being "other."
As a woman of color and a future journalist, I can't stress enough the importance of representation in media outlets. Whether it's an African American lead of a new TV show or a new radio host at a public radio station. Representation is extremely important in relaying stories that wouldn't be told otherwise in an effective manner.