Race to Judgment: Stereotyping Media and Criminal Defendants

Entman and Gross provide an empirical analysis of the media's response to the Duke lacrosse case against the backdrop of research about the media's depiction of crime and race generally. They note that extensive academic research demonstrates a consistent media bias against African America...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Law and contemporary problems 2008-10, Vol.71 (4), p.93-133
Main Authors: Entman, Robert M., Gross, Kimberly A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accused persons
African Americans
Case studies
Crime and the press
Criminal Justice
Criminal sociology
Defendants
Fear of crime
Hispanics
Journalism
Judgement
Lacrosse
Legal Cases
Litigation
Mass Media
Mass media and minorities
Mass Media Images
Media
Media coverage
News content
Prejudice
Psychological aspects
Racial discrimination
Racism
Stereotype (Psychology)
Stereotypes
Television
U.S.A
Violent crimes
White people
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Summary:Entman and Gross provide an empirical analysis of the media's response to the Duke lacrosse case against the backdrop of research about the media's depiction of crime and race generally. They note that extensive academic research demonstrates a consistent media bias against African Americans not only in crime reporting, but also in news coverage generally. These repeated messages by the media relating to race reinforce existing stereotypes and biases in ways that negatively affect the administration of justice. Although the circumstances of the Duke lacrosse case, which involved Caucasian defendants and an African American alleged victim, are not typical, Entman and Gross demonstrate that early reporting about the case shoehorned the facts into a stereotyped story of race and class struggle in a manner analogous to that employed by the media in other crime reporting.
ISSN:0023-9186
1945-2322