Media coverage of foreign and minority groups

Groups in the media

Do the media cover different groups of people differently? When they write about minority groups, does the average tone (positive, negative, etc.) of articles change? Do they frame similar issues in different ways depending on whether the group involved is domestic or foreign? Do any of these patterns change over time?

Media coverage has an enormous influence on how people think about different political issues. As such, learning about patterns and trends in this coverage is not just of general interest, but also has considerable policy relevance. Our research has focused in particular on characterizing and understanding how Muslims and Islam are covered in the Western press.

Most of the work has been jointly with Erik Bleich at Middlebury College and his research lab, the Media Portrayals of Minorities Project.