In light of recent events in Kansas City, does the media truly selectively focus on white criminals over POC ones?
Yes, seemingly so. A murderer’s race is mentioned 4x more often if he is white rather than black.
And not only does the media mention the race of white murderers more, they also do it sooner into the article!
I’ve noticed this myself, they place the race of white offenders more prominently
https://freebeacon.com/media/yes-the-media-bury-the-race-of-murderers-if-theyre-not-white/
This pattern applies to white mass shooters as well,
“White offenders were covered far more extensively than nonwhite assailants”,
Mass shootings with white perps get almost twice as much media attention and stories…
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1088767920974412
Lastly, this hyperfixation is not exclusive to news media, it’s also in pop culture such as TV and movies.
“Results suggest whites are disproportionately portrayed as criminals five to eight times more often on police dramas compared to actual crime statistics” (source below)
Does this bias influence the public's perception of criminality among different ethnicities?
I can't tell for sure, but it has seeped into mainstream culture, with fraternities and frat boys being portrayed as violent:
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-11-11/fraternities-sexual-assault-violence-usc 5/6
Sources in next tweet
Media mentions: https://freebeacon.com/media/yes-the-media-bury-the-race-of-murderers-if-theyre-not-white/
Mass shootings: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1088767920974412
Pop culture/TV shows: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/23311886.2015.1104977
LA Times (for some reason?):
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-11-11/fraternities-sexual-assault-violence-usc
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Originally tweeted by Matthew Salvini (@MattyBoySwag143) on April 21, 2023.
American Buddhist Net 