Reinforcing Stereotypes? Race and Local Television News Coverage of Congress*

Abstract

Objective. Despite the increasingly diverse legislative records of African‐American members of Congress, much of the population continues to believe that African‐American legislators are interested only in minority issues. If African‐American House members are becoming more like their nonblack colleagues, then why do many citizens continue to hold these stereotypes about African‐American legislators?Methods. We examine local television news coverage of House members and compare the coverage received by African‐American and nonblack incumbents.Results. We find that local television newscasts devote more coverage to African‐American members of Congress but this coverage is also more race oriented, especially in less diverse markets. In fact, local television stations produce more race‐oriented coverage of African‐American legislators regardless of their legislative records on minority issues.Conclusions. Local television news stations may be partially responsible for the prevailing stereotype of African‐American House members who are narrowly focused on race‐oriented issues.