semi-related to the previous post.
I think this illustrates the reality that there isn't enough diversity of race, class or culture in most newsrooms nowadays better than anything I can think of:
During the 11pm sports segment, our sports guy read a story on the NBA's new dress code. When he came back on camera, he was wearing a baseball cap sideways, sunglasses, and a necklace of sorts that looked like it had a mini-Larry O'Brien-trophy on it. He then proceeded to flash faux-gang signs, mocking the hip-hop culture dress norms of players like Allen Iverson and Rip Hamilton.
Everybody laughed out loud. I did, but not with the joke -- I laughed only because I couldn't believe he was so stupid and clueless to do all that and fake Ebonics as well. It only got worse afterwards, as the main anchors flahsed the same faux-gang signs before signing off. Cy said, "Please, make it stop, somebody," and Ebone left in a huff.
What bothered me was how the black sports producer could let him do that and not say a word. I guess if you make millions, no one's going to question your judgement. I called David at the desk and asked if anyone had complained; he said no one had called in. I keep thinking that if there were more people who worked in there that had grown up with hip-hop culture and didn't have the same middle-to-upper class background, our sports anchor wouldn't dare to do that.
Everyone asks why younger demographics aren't tuning in to newscasts or reading papers, and it's really clear to me in the same way that the 18-25 age group not voting is: if you're mocking their culture and openly putting forth a fear of it, then why are younger viewers going to tune in if they expect to be disrespected?
During the 11pm sports segment, our sports guy read a story on the NBA's new dress code. When he came back on camera, he was wearing a baseball cap sideways, sunglasses, and a necklace of sorts that looked like it had a mini-Larry O'Brien-trophy on it. He then proceeded to flash faux-gang signs, mocking the hip-hop culture dress norms of players like Allen Iverson and Rip Hamilton.
Everybody laughed out loud. I did, but not with the joke -- I laughed only because I couldn't believe he was so stupid and clueless to do all that and fake Ebonics as well. It only got worse afterwards, as the main anchors flahsed the same faux-gang signs before signing off. Cy said, "Please, make it stop, somebody," and Ebone left in a huff.
What bothered me was how the black sports producer could let him do that and not say a word. I guess if you make millions, no one's going to question your judgement. I called David at the desk and asked if anyone had complained; he said no one had called in. I keep thinking that if there were more people who worked in there that had grown up with hip-hop culture and didn't have the same middle-to-upper class background, our sports anchor wouldn't dare to do that.
Everyone asks why younger demographics aren't tuning in to newscasts or reading papers, and it's really clear to me in the same way that the 18-25 age group not voting is: if you're mocking their culture and openly putting forth a fear of it, then why are younger viewers going to tune in if they expect to be disrespected?