Diversity in the News: #diversity #dailynews #equality

 

Growing up, diversity in the news was hard to come by. You would see a group of white men and women, then a few specks of POC to make things diverse. Fast forward to today, this issue is still happening. There has yet to be a national news channel that really embraces diversity. Whether Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, etc. If you want to see that, you would have to go to a specific channel. Such as Latin networks or even BET. How hard is it to mix things up? Diving deeper, it is harder for POC of the LGBTQ+ to join this demographic. It makes sense when their stories are not represented or spoken about on the news. NPR states, “In a survey, 84% of LGBTQ adults said not enough protections are on social media to prevent discrimination, harassment or disinformation, according to the report. Additionally, 40% of LGBTQ adults, as well as 49% of transgender and nonbinary people, do not feel welcomed and safe on social media.” (Diaz Paragraph 1) There is more news about anti-gay laws or bans on gay people than the actual harm that they face. Whether it is online or offline. 

 I realized there was not as much diversity in the news when I saw the differences in how others are treated. Five Black cops brutally murdered a young man. Their pictures and names were immediately released. All five officers were fired and they have been charged. Whereas, three cops just fatally shot a father because they went to the wrong house. Their names were not mentioned and they were put on leave. See the difference? Without equality, what is the point of diversity? 

Sources:

https://www.npr.org/2022/07/13/1111113396/glaad-social-media-report-lgbtq-online-harassment