We have talked about women and the news media, and how women typically fall into stereotypical categories when quoted in the news. Women fall into stereotypical roles such as the mother, wife, victim, etc. We have also talked about BIPOC representation in the media and how Black people are depicted as criminals or as the butt of a joke.
I wanted to shed a light on Black women in the news media. Black women are often viewed as loud, aggressive, and mean. Black women have to combat the duality of racism along with sexism. Black women’s stories are deemed less desirable than their counterparts. Many news stories involving a Black woman often are not told in the media either.
Black women journalists are often criticized for their academic integrity. Some readers of their journalistic stories come at Black women with racist and misogynistic comments that Black women have to combat at the same time. It is not fair that Black women have a seperate obstacle in their way that puts them in a box separated from their white male counterparts.
Newsrooms need to become more diverse and change their practices so women, specifically Black women, are not portrayed in such a way that further harms them. As journalists, it is a part of our job to minimize harm. If we do not do this, we pose the risk of hurting others which can turn people against the news media.
Black women deserve care in the media, in the newsroom and within the news media. The news media is stuck in a cycle of reporting the same stereotypical stories of Black women that must come to an end.
While women as a whole are ostracized in the media, Black women and other women of color have another battle they have to face at the same time.
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