Looking beyond particularly hateful media individuals like Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage and Lou Dobbs, Joseph Torres of StopBigMedia.com (10/1/08) has some disturbing numbers to explain why, he says, "media have contributed to the racial divisions that still exist in this country by marginalizing people of color in its coverage":

A major reason why this division exists is because people of color do not control the mass dissemination of their own images. Few people of color work in our nation’s newsrooms, and fewer own broadcast stations. People of color make up more than one-third of the U.S. population but own just 3 percent of all local TV stations and 8 percent of radio outlets. Journalists of color make up only 13.5 percent of all newsroom employees working at daily newspapers and 19 percent of the local TV newsroom work force. As a result, stories about people of color are often told by journalists who know little about these communities.

Listen to FAIR's radio show CounterSpin: Iyanna Jones on Black Radio's 'Disappearing Voices' (8/15/08)

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