Fourth International Conference on Communication & Media Studies

Abstract

Popular culture has the power to shape our understanding of complex issues and our attitudes toward people we perceive to be different. However, when depictions in popular entertainment persistently reflect biases, stereotypes, and inaccuracies about people and communities, they help sow division and drive audiences toward unhelpful and inaccurate perceptions. Such negative outcomes have been widely documented in existing research, which has shown how patterns of stereotypical depictions of black men and boys, and communities of color in general can negatively affect people’s attitudes toward these groups.As popular entertainment continues to shape the cultural and political landscape, and is increasingly recognized as an important predictor of political decision making, identifying harmful trends and understanding how to counter them through better informed storytelling, media literacy, and advocacy will be of critical importance. In an effort to better understand the role popular entertainment is playing in shaping attitudes toward immigrants and immigration, this presentation examines narratives concerning immigrants, immigration, and border communities within a medium with the largest reach and one of the highest levels of audience engagement— U.S. broadcast, cable, and streaming television. Key findings show that immigrant communities are not only significantly underrepresented, but that depictions of immigrants are both overwhelmingly negative and racially skewed—with White immigrant characters more frequently depicted in positive, authoritative, and recurring roles than are immigrants of color.