According to a new study released Tuesday by Pew Research Center, Black Americans rightfully remain skeptical as hell when it comes to how the media covers our communities.
The survey reveals that nearly two-thirds of Black adults (63 percent) believe news about Black people is usually more disparaging than news about other racial and ethnic groups.
Around half say media coverage of our communities overlooks important information while only 9 percent say it often gives the full truth. Perhaps most sadly, 43 percent say the media perpetuates Black stereotypes, compared to the 11 percent who say there is no stereotyping.
A dismal percent of Black Americans say they believe Black people will be covered fairly and accurately in their lifetimes.
The catalyst for the Pew Research Center doing the survey was to see how Black Americans feel about media representation three years after George Floyd’s murder. The fallout from his killing led to international protests that called out how the news wrongly portrays us when it comes to covering our communities and instances of police brutality.
Earlier this year, Pew surveyed almost 5,000 Black adults from Feb. 22 to March 5. In addition, online focus groups were conducted in July and August of 2022 where Pew asked how they believe Black people are portrayed in the media, whether it is accurate or fair, and if it will ever get better.
Though many people rely on social media for information, Black Americans understand that’s not a reliable source for truth either. Around one-in-five (18 peecent) say they trust the accuracy of the information they see on social media, which is much less than the number of people who rely on local and national news outlets (48 percent and 44 percent, respectively).
Some solutions presented by participants include implementing Black folks as sources, journalists and newsrooms leaders. But as we’ve seen, the diversity, equity and inclusion that was promised following the Floyd protests was nothing but lip service.