ABSTRACT
The news media often represent U.S. Americans experiencing poverty in negative, stereotypical and inaccurate ways. Several studies have documented the way the media put a “black face” on poverty. For example, despite Blacks making up roughly one-quarter of U.S. residents living in poverty, news magazines disproportionately focus on Blacks in their coverage of poverty. This racialized portrayal is even more problematic because Whites dominate coverage of popular social welfare programs, such as Social Security and Medicare. This chapter reviews the literature on media coverage of poverty and social welfare, paying particular attention to the ways in which the coverage is racialized. It discusses the implications for perceptions of those in poverty, racial stereotypes, public attitudes on welfare spending, public policy making and candidate evaluations.
