From pamphlets denouncing slavery to boycotts of Hollywood, African Americans have fought for adequate representations of themselves in the mass media industries of the United States. This book provides readers with an interdisciplinary overview of the past, present, and future of African Americans in U.S. media and the ongoing project of gaining racial equality in media: a process which spans generations. Catherine Squires introduces the reader to the varied ways in which Black Americans have navigated cultural, political, and economic obstacles both to make their own media and to critique mainstream media. Synthesizing the work of social scientists, historians, cultural critics, as well as comments from audience members and media producers, African Americans and the Media gives readers a lively entry point to classic and contemporary studies of Black Americans and mass media. Across the chapters, readers follow African Americans’ struggles to harness the power of print, broadcasting, film, and digital media, through five main themes which are woven through the book: representation, circulation, innovation, audience and responsibility. Taking in examples as diverse as Blaxploitation films, the work of 20th Century black activist journalists such as Ida B. Wells and A. Philip Randolph, and popular television such as The Cosby Show, this book will be essential reading for all students and scholars of media and communications and African American studies.

Though Latinos and African Americans have lived together in large cities as neighbors, there is much that is still misunderstood between them. Those who live in non-diverse locales have only news and entertainment representations on which to base their information about the two cultures. This new collection of essays brings together the latest interdisciplinary works by scholars examining conflicts and convergences among Latinos and African Americans in mass-mediated and cross-cultural contexts. Contributions in the form of both empirical and critical ethnographic research present compelling works in cross-cultural relations, news, entertainment, news media, education, and community relations. ^IBrown and Black Communication^R challenges those who do not think that significant projects and key research have been conducted on the two largest ethnic communities in the United States. Of certain appeal to both scholars and those with more applied needs in media, education, and public policy, this challenging collection offers a range of perspectives on two widely diverse bodies of American people.

"A comprehensive history of African Americans in the mass media--music, film, radio, television, advertising, and print and broadcast news--makes this volume a unique contribution to communications studies ... "--From back cover (first edition).

In African Americans and Mass Media, Richard T. Craig explores the relationship among the lack of media ownership diversity, in addition to the political, and economical, influences, and policy developments influencing media ownership. Craig also addresses the concern of growing media monopolies and the decline in minority media ownership since the passing of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Focusing the policy argument on this act and the deregulation of media ownership, this book explores, the jeopardy jeopardizing of diminishedas well as the influence on content. Observing Black Entertainment Television (BET) in the last five years of African American ownership and the first five years of conglomerate ownership—paralleling the first decade after the Telecommunications Act was passed—the book includes information about the changes made to information programming on the network. Craig asserts that despite the overwhelming presence of African Americans holding executive positions with the network, Viacom, BET’s current owner, influences the network’s programming and relegates the cultural identity of the network to profit interests. BET is observed as a case study reflective of the importance ethnic media and perspectives reflective of cultural ethnic identities, targeting ethnic audiences. African Americans and Mass Media chronicles the significance of ethnic media, drawing particular attention to African American media in the United States, and advocates for increased communication policy development bolstering minority ownership.

This two-volume biographical encyclopedia chronicles the success stories and considerable strides made by over 240 African American media figures from newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and the Internet.

This guide represents the first serious academic assessment of the relationships between peoples in Africa and of African descent and Afro mass media around the world. Experts on communications in sub-Saharan and North Africa and the Caribbean and African-American media in the United States characterize the settings and philosophical contexts for media in the countries that they survey; the development of often difficult relationships between government, society, and the media; the education and training of media personnel; and the implications of new technologies and future challenges. Designed for students, teachers, and professionals in communications and in the social sciences broadly. This comparative study of Afro mass media, the impact of social and political systems, of culture and ideology, of different communications mechanisms, and of special problems is designed for students, teachers, and professionals in all areas of communications and mass media, and in government, sociology, economics, and African and African-American studies.

The media's treatment of and interaction with race, like race itself, is one of the most sensitive areas hi American society. Whether hi its coverage and treatment of racial matters or racial connections inside media organizations themselves, mass communication is deeply involved with race. The Media in Black and White brings together twenty journalists and scholars, of various racial backgrounds, to grapple with a controversial issue: the role that media industries, from advertising to newspapers to the information superhighway, play in helping Americans understand race. Contributors include Ellis Cose, a contributing editor for Newsweek; Manning Marable, chairman of Columbia University's African-American Research Center; William Wong, a columnist for the Oakland Tribune; Lisa Penaloza, a University of Illinois professor; and Melita Marie Garza, a Chicago Tribune reporter. Among the topics discussed are: the quality of reporting on immigrant issues; how sensationalism may be deepening the chasm of misunderstanding between the races; how the coverage of America's drug wars has been marked by racism; and whether politically correct language is interfering with coverage of vital issues and problems. The contributors of The Media in Black and White hope to broaden the narrow vision of the United States and the world beyond with their contributions to the debate over race and the media. The commentary found hi this important work will be of interest to sociologists, communication specialists, and black studies scholars.

Living in a segregated society, white Americans learn about African Americans through the images the media show. This text offers a look at the racial patterns in the mass media and how they shape the ambivalent attitudes of whites toward blacks.

African Americans in the History of Mass Communication offers a variety of stories focusing on how African Americans use the media to educate, advocate, empower, and serve others. Stories ranging from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Era, which include different forms of media from cinema and music to newspapers and public relations, offer perspectives that have yet to be told. The book's concluding chapter includes personal accounts from several of its contributing authors detailing how they researched their chapters. These accounts offer questions designed to generate thought about scholarship and history. Students may use these anecdotes as guides for their own research.

From pamphlets denouncing slavery to boycotts of Hollywood, African Americans have fought for adequate representations of themselves in the mass media industries of the United States. This book provides readers with an interdisciplinary overview of the past, present, and future of African Americans in U.S. media and the ongoing project of gaining racial equality in media: a process which spans generations. Catherine Squires introduces the reader to the varied ways in which Black Americans have navigated cultural, political, and economic obstacles both to make their own media and to critique mainstream media. Synthesizing the work of social scientists, historians, cultural critics, as well as comments from audience members and media producers, African Americans and the Media gives readers a lively entry point to classic and contemporary studies of Black Americans and mass media. Across the chapters, readers follow African Americans’ struggles to harness the power of print, broadcasting, film, and digital media, through five main themes which are woven through the book: representation, circulation, innovation, audience and responsibility. Taking in examples as diverse as Blaxploitation films, the work of 20th Century black activist journalists such as Ida B. Wells and A. Philip Randolph, and popular television such as The Cosby Show, this book will be essential reading for all students and scholars of media and communications and African American studies.