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May 6, 2008
Diversity and Media
I tend to agree more with Gordon on the issue of diversity. I do think special efforts must be made to at least consider the impact of your work. I understand Kittross's explanation of needing to find a "center" through which to operate in mass media, but I think that center can very easily be skewed when you're not considering as many groups of people as you can. It's human nature to to understand the world through your own perspective and experiences. The media, like many other things, is still controlled mostly by white men. If those controlling the media subconsciously consider their own experience and perspective as having more weight (as humans tend to do), then that center is going to be too close to the white male experience, and not the experience of the entire public.
That being said, without diversifying your working operation, you will miss certain groups or misrepresent groups out of a lack of knowledge. I still think making an effort to represent all groups will lead to a more accurate representation of the entire human experience as you are presenting it. Someone will always be left out - our world is too diverse - but you can at least attempt to make your coverage as all-inclusive as possible.
Posted by herzog at May 6, 2008 3:45 PM