Book Review: Race-Baiter: How the Media Wields Dangerous Words to Divide a Nation, by Eric Deggans

Abstract

Race-Baiter: How the Media Wields Dangerous Words to Divide a Nation. Eric Deggans. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. 275 pp. $28 hbk.Eric Deggans, media critic for the Tampa Bay Times and contributor to National Public Radio, blames a fractured media landscape for what he sees as an escalation of racism in news and entertainment programs, and he calls for increased media literacy to lay the foundation for a more meaningful discourse on race in America.Deggans offers a report from the trenches with personal interviews and previously published columns informing much of this work. The book's title comes in part from Deggans' disputes with Fox News' Bill O'Reilly, who labeled Deggans a race-baiter for his critiques of O'Reilly's show. Although conservatives draw the brunt of Deggans' ire, the author asserts that pundits, journalists, and television programmers across the ideological spectrum are guilty of presenting simplistic pictures of racial issues to appeal to niche audiences. Deggans argues,Today's fastest-growing media platforms now focus on smaller segments of the audience- the plumpest parts of a seriously fragmented viewing/reading/listening public. And one way to ensure that those audience segments develop fierce loyalty is to feed them messages demonizing other outlets and the groups who might gather there.Deggans lays out his arguments in readable prose, frequently introducing his topics with anecdotes and personal experiences. In Chapter 1, Deggans uses the Trayvon Martin shooting in South Florida to illustrate the ways in which media on the left and right resorted to racial stereotypes and familiar story lines. At MSNBC, the Rev. Al Sharpton used his show to garner sympathy for the victim's family, while on Fox News, Geraldo Rivera insinuated that Martin was partly to blame for his death because he dressed in a way that drew suspicion. Both sides appealed to their audiences, but neither adequately addressed the complex socioeconomic issues raised by the shoot- ing, Deggans argues.In Chapter 2, Deggans looks at the ways political bloggers and media activists drive the national news agenda. He focuses on the ACORN and Shirley Sherrod tapes to discuss how the mainstream media's fear of being scooped made them vulnerable to the shoddy reporting of bloggers James O'Keefe and Andrew Breitbart. In Chapter 3, the author asserts that these inaccurate reports found traction because for years Fox News presented a parade of guests and commentators who had insinuated that blacks were lazy, immoral, and prejudiced against whites. In Chapter 4, Deggans discusses some of the perplexing and subtle ways racism crept into the 2012 elections, including Newt Gingrich's remarks calling for paychecks over welfare checks and Hermann Cain's defenders decrying stories of his marital infidelity as electronic lynching.Although most of the book concerns the news media, Deggans also considers ways television entertainment programmers have resorted to racial stereotypes when creat- ing characters in dramas and sitcoms and when casting participants on reality televi- sion shows. …