Media bias delegitimizes Black-rights protesters

A systemic approach to the psychology of racial bias within individuals and society

“…For instance, more specific and trivial wording — such as ‘stole a pack of gum’ — might be used to describe the theft behaviours of white people, whereas more abstract and dramatic terms — such as ‘shoplifted’ — might be used for Black people 188 . There is also a noted tendency for media to use the passive voice when reporting on structural and systemic harms perpetrated against people of colour — reporting, for instance, that ‘Black Lives Matter protesters were teargassed’ as opposed to the more active phrasing ‘police teargassed Black Lives Matter protesters’ 189 . Knowledge of these shared stereotypes can lead to individual-level biases 190 , 191 .…”

Seeing the Black Lives Matter Movement Through Computer Vision? An Automated Visual Analysis of News Media Images on Facebook

“…Certain media frames were used to cover anti-racism protests, such as the "spectacle frame" that highlights protesters' sensational, high drama, and unorthodox actions (Brown & Harlow, 2019;Brown & Mourão, 2021). In line with the protest paradigm, these studies found that negative frames reinforce the marginalization of Black people (Kilgo, 2021). Specifically, "legitimizing debates" in news coverage of the BLM movement lead to increased support for and identification with the protesters and criticism of the police, whereas exposure to "riot" and "confrontation" frames has the opposite effect (Brown & Mourão, 2021).…”

“…More recently, studies on traditional media coverage of the BLM movement found a similar pattern reported in the protest paradigm literature (e.g., Brown, 2021; Brown & Harlow, 2019). For example, Kilgo (2021) argued that news media coverage of the social protests in response to police brutality incidents contributed to the delegitimization of the BLM movement against police violence and racism. Certain media frames were used to cover anti-racism protests, such as the “spectacle frame” that highlights protesters’ sensational, high drama, and unorthodox actions (Brown & Harlow, 2019; Brown & Mourão, 2021).…”

“…However, at least one study suggests that U.S. media, irrespective of partisan stances, primarily focus on the violent and disruptive elements of the BLM movement covering the movement as merely riots (Brown & Harlow, 2019). Such tendencies—focusing on the “violent side” of the movement—continued when George Floyd’s death rekindled the movement in 2020, even though the media paid relatively more attention to police violence (Kilgo, 2021). A recent visual analysis of select news images immediately after the killing of George Floyd found that, although news media usually highlighted peaceful moments during the protests, violent images that showed a physical confrontation between protesters and police were most likely to appear when news images captured both protesters and law enforcement officers in a single image (Cowart et al, 2022).…”

Good Trouble, Necessary Trouble: Expanding Thinking and Research on Youth of Color’s Resistance to Oppression

“…The tendency to view protest movements led by people of color for racial justice as "trouble" is a lasting legacy and continued present-day manifestation of white supremacy. Consider the ways in which Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests have been portrayed by the media: Kilgo (2021) examined cable news and Associated Press coverage of BLM from May to December 2020 and found that media mentions of violence or disruption were four times more common than mentions of policy change on police violence and racial justice, which were the primary aim of the protests. Peaceful demonstrations, which represented the We would like to thank Editor-in-Chief Amanda Morris for her commitment to dismantling systems of racism and oppression during adolescence, as evidenced by her foresight and enthusiasm for devoting three-fourths of a year worth of journal space to the four-part special series.…”