Clouded reality: News representations of culturally close and distant ethnic outgroups

Anne C. Kroon,Damian Trilling,Toni G. L. A. van der Meer,Jeroen G. F. Jonkman

doi:10.1515/commun-2019-2069

Abstract

Abstract The current study explores how the cultural distance of ethnic outgroups relative to the ethnic ingroup is related to stereotypical news representations. It does so by drawing on a sample of more than three million Dutch newspaper articles and uses advanced methods of automated content analysis, namely word embeddings. The results show that distant ethnic outgroup members (i. e., Moroccans) are associated with negative characteristics and issues, while this is not the case for close ethnic outgroup members (i. e., Belgians). The current study demonstrates the usefulness of word embeddings as a tool to study subtle aspects of ethnic bias in mass-mediated content.

Highlights

The current study explores how the cultural distance of ethnic outgroups relative to the ethnic ingroup is related to stereotypical news representations
An important factor that could account for the variation in stereotypicality of media portrayals of outgroups is the cultural distance between the ethnic outgroup relative to the ethnic ingroup (Allport, Clark, and Pettigrew, 1954)
In addition to mapping the implicit nature of stereotypical news coverage, the current study aims to identify sources of variation in these portrayals, so to locate under which circumstances audiences are most likely to be exposed to biased representations of ethnic groups

Summary

Introduction

The current study explores how the cultural distance of ethnic outgroups relative to the ethnic ingroup is related to stereotypical news representations. Groups characterized by a closer cultural distance trigger feelings of similarity and shared social identities, with more favorable intergroup perceptions as a result (Ye, Zhang, Huawen Shen, and Goh, 2014) Extrapolating these findings to racial prejudice in media coverage, it can be anticipated that negative stereotypical representations in the media pertain especially to more culturally distinct outgroups than those outgroups culturally closer to the national ingroup. Media studies typically suggest that dominant social values and ideologies of ethnic ingroups are placed in the foreground of the media agenda, resulting in the underrepresented and negatively-skewed portrayal of culturally distant minorities (Ahmed and Matthes, 2017; Eberl et al, 2018). Close outgroup members, considered largely equal regarding social norms and ideologies of the majority group, are not likely to stand out as different nor threatening, and may benefit from more favorable media evaluations

Methods

Results

Conclusion