Reader Views on Press Coverage of Race
Welcome to Up for Debate. Each week, Conor Friedersdorf rounds up timely conversations and solicits reader responses to one thought-provoking question. Later, he publishes some thoughtful replies. Sign up for the newsletter here.
In a previous newsletter about a country-music controversy involving the artist Tracy Chapman’s song “Fast Car,” I asked readers:
“What is the most constructive way for the press to cover race if its objectives include accurately informing citizens about the past and the present––no matter how awful or uncomfortable––and refraining from framing the news in ways that are needlessly polarizing or essentialist?”
Replies have been edited for length and clarity.
Zachary harkened back to the coronavirus pandemic:
Your question brought to mind , which found that highlighting racial disparities due to COVID-19 made white Americans less fearful of COVID-19, and thus less likely to support policies meant to address it. If the press aims to cover race in a way meant to be constructive in solving problems, it should take care to keep all audiences emotionally invested. If, for example, a story about police abuse focuses on abuse perpetrated against African Americans, many non-Black Americans will infer that police abuses
