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Who Holds Power in American Media
Activity: Cultural Supports for Systemic Racism in the United States
- Time frame: 10 – 15 minutes
- Setting: Online or face-to-face, works as group discussion or writing assignment
- Source: Chapter 5 (Learning Outcome: 5.1) from
Race and Ethnicity: Sociology in Action,
edited by: Kathleen Odell Korgen and Maxine P. Atkinson - Contributor(s): Nikki Khanna
Doing Sociology 5.1 Who Holds Power in American Media?
In this exercise you will examine photos of some of the most powerful people in America. Racial-ethnic minorities are underrepresented throughout the media industry. In “The Faces of American Power, Nearly as White as the Oscar Nominees,” The New York Times provides the following statistics regarding the number of people of color in top leadership positions:
- Hollywood executives: 1 out of 20
- Music executives: 1 out of 20
- Book publishing executives: 2 out of 20
- Television executives: 2 out of 29
- News executives: 2 out of 13
Answer the following questions in writing and be prepared to share your answers with the class:
- Why does a lack of representation of people of color matter?
- How might American media change if more people of color were in leadership positions in these various parts of the industry?
Note to Instructors: This exercise addresses learning question 5.1 by helping students visually understand why American media remains White-centric today (most of those controlling the media are White). This exercise can be used in any size class; in-person or online. This a good online activity with answers to be shared in groups or as an informal essay. For in-person classes, it is probably best completed outside class. We used this url to access the article: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/02/26/us/race-of-american-power.html.