Page 478 - Battleground The Media Volume 1 and 2

Representat ons of Race |

rallying around such representations of race and race relations to establish mul-
ticultural casting as a legitimate and significant new form.
Changes and improvements can happen because the system allows for (or
more precisely, cannot prevent) social input—the media industry can be pushed
because it relies on individual viewers, and more specifically, categories of view-
ers. The most coveted and valuable set of viewers for executives, marketers, and
advertisers is the 18-to-34 demographic, and therefore, the viewers in this group
have the most power to influence what stays on the air and what innovative, un-
usual, untraditional programs might get canceled. The choice of programs and
films that one watches and supports makes a difference in the kinds of repre-
sentations—of society, family, friendships, lifestyles, values—that continue to be
seen and circulated in popular culture. The media industry is neither inherently
conservative nor progressive. Film, and television in particular, are formations
that can sustain the status quo, contain counter-hegemonic stories and images,
and yet also facilitate advancements and absorb changes in the representations
of race and race relations.

Through aCaDEmia, anD Through soCiaL aCTivism
It seems a tautology to believe that viewers aren’t interested in seeing African
Americans in serious dramas or Asian American men as romantic lead charac-
ters, and therefore, that is why television programs and films with such stories
aren’t made. Researchers and students in fields such as sociology, psychology,
communications, and film and television studies theorize, analyze, and collect
data about diversity in the media. Ideally, the work of academics will reach and
interface with those working in the media industry. Activist organizations also
work to affect changes in the way that Hollywood represents race, race relations,
and American culture.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
has been vigilant about film and television representations since the birth of
cinema marked by protests against D. W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation in 1915.
Founded in 1909, the NAACP is one of the oldest and most influential civil
rights organizations, concerned with many realms including the media. In the
fall of 1999, the NAACP protested just before the new television season was to
begin. The concern was that in the line-up of 26 new shows, none had any major
characters of color. How, at the turn of the new millennium, in the United States,
could not a single show be offered with a lead who was not white? From whence
did this come—from unimaginative and racist writers, producers, and networks,
or from dull and complacent audiences? It took the tenacity and organization of
the coalition of ethnic media watch groups who joined the NAACP, American
Indians in Film and Television, the National Asian Pacific American Legal Con-
sortium, and the National Latino Media Council, to threaten boycotting televi-
sion networks in order to bring about some changes. In some cases, the changes
were last minute; in others they were seemingly superficial (an industry term,
“coloring up,” emerged)—but there have been changes nonetheless.
While protesting in front of a station or studio does not affect ratings in a
direct sense, it can serve to embarrass executives (or viewers), forcing them to