When is a racial identification useful in a news story? When is it simply meaningless as a description? These are questions newsrooms across the country continue to debate. Viewers and listeners want to know what dangerous criminals look like, but a description like "black male in a green hooded shirt" could apply to potentially hundreds or thousands of residents. So, do you use the limited description you have? Or does it invite racial stereotyping? Here's an article about the current debate going on at the Sacramento Bee newspaper. I'm interested in your comments because there are interesting arguments on both sides.
3 comments:
i feel that anyway to acturately describe the person is acceptable. race should not be looked at as discriminating, we are unique, so why not embrace it and stop worrying about being "politically correct" if there even is such a thing anymore.
I find this is an important thing, even in a 2007 world of 'equality.' I was reading the paper today, and the first words were "black male, about 22 years old" in describing a crime suspect. That description fits so many people in the Carbondale area, that it is important to note his other features, like height, etc. Otherwise, it would be a very narrow-minded, racist article.
The more accurate the description of the person the better. If the description only narrows down the suspects a little, it's still narrowing them down.
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