Hailey Smith

Jour 501-002
2/1/2017
Media Audit 1
WBAL-TV 11 News, 2/1/17 10 p.m.

News-Team/Community Demographics Comparison

While almost two thirds of Baltimore citizens are African American (63%), this on-air

news team was composed of slightly more whites than blacks. Of the seven newscasters featured,

four were white with the remaining three black. The program featured two main anchors, one

white and one black, as well as four reporters, two white and two black. Each person seemed to

have approximately the same screen-time as his or her racial counterparts. Although these

positions were both racially equal, the chief meteorologist was white; if a black meteorologist

had been featured instead, the news team would be a more accurate reflection of the community

it serves. Even though there were no other minorities featured, the team still reflects the majority

of the population, considering whites account for 29%, Hispanics 4%, Asians 2% and all others

less than 5%.

Quantitative Analysis

There were 18 total stories within the newscast, starting with six local crime segments,

then four politics (local, state, national), three national news stories, and finally three feature

stories.

Of the six local crime segments, two did not identify race, two were solely about black

people, and two were solely about white people. Mugshots were not used in any story to identify

victims or suspects, regardless of race. Instead, victims were typically smiling in two photos and

suspects were straight-faced in one picture. As for politics, the local segment featured the
African American mayor of Baltimore, with mostly black people behind her. None of the state

and national politics stories displayed any minorities at all.

The national news stories featured a white suspect and black victim, a Palestinian suspect

and a story about the Dakota Pipeline. The weather segment was placed between national news

and feature stories, and only showed the white chief meteorologist. Of the three feature stories,

two contained exclusively photos of animals and the other was about George H. W. Bushs

involvement in this weekends Super Bowl coin toss.

Qualitative Analysis

When looking at only the portrayal of race across the local news stories, races were

treated almost identically. There were equal amounts of photos for each suspect and victim, as

well as the same amount smiling/straight-faced. Additionally, whenever someone was

interviewed, regardless of race, they seemed to be at least of average intelligence. That said,

though, the lack of racial diversity within each story was interesting - for the black woman who

was missing, a black police chief was interviewed. For the sexual abuse case against a white

man, a white police officer was interviewed.

Although the majority of the local news segment was crime, minorities were seen in a

wide range of stories. African Americans were seen as the police chief, investigators and the

mayor of Baltimore. The range of diversity however changed when the broadcast shifted from

local to state, and even more so for national news.

The story about state politics showed white Governor Larry Hogan, as well as interviews

of both senators and constituents; all five interviewees were white. In the national news

segments, identifications of involved parties differed from those in local stories. The first story
was about the trial date for a white Oklahoma police officer who allegedly shot an unarmed

black man. Unlike previous stories, the suspect was shown smiling in her police uniform, as well

as dressed professionally while walking calmly into court. There were no photos of the victim.

The second story was about the wife of the Orlando night club shooter. She was pictured smiling

in a casual setting, and sketched in a cartoon-like drawing of her in court. The final story

regarded Donald Trumps plans to continue construction of the Dakota Pipeline. While the

broadcaster did verbally mention the Standing Rock Sioux Tribes opposition at the end, it

showed no photos of those involved.

All in all, the newscast was relatively sensitive to racial diversity; I would give it an

8.5/10 grade. Although the national stories were more concerning in the diversity department, the

majority of the segments were local. In my opinion, the news team did a great job equally

dividing roles of reporters, as well as the amount and portrayal of races within stories. In order to

improve their score, I would suggest featuring minority interviews in both state and national

stories. Additionally, the team itself could better reflect the community by adding at least one or

two more minority newscasters.