The media is powerful and the images it presents can shape perceptions. Racist coverage is something Black people in America have had to deal with for decades. Things improved somewhat over the years as media outlets have been called out and grown more aware of how they depict Black people. One of the Midwest’s most influential news sources has come out to address its own racist coverage.
The Kansas City Star admits that it has “disenfranchised, ignored and scorned generations of Black Kansas Citians” for the last 140 years.
The newspaper “reinforced Jim Crow laws and redlining,” wrote Mike Fannin, president and editor of the Star. In a column on Sunday, he apologized for the coverage. “Decade after early decade, it robbed an entire community of opportunity, dignity, justice and recognition,” he wrote.
Parent company McClatchy, which owns 30 U.S. news organizations, including The Star, The Miami Herald and The Sacramento Bee, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February. The second-largest newspaper chain in the country, McClatchy announced in July that Chatham Asset Management had submitted the winning bid for the company at a bankruptcy auction.
Based in New Jersey, Chatham is a $4.4 billion hedge fund and McClatchy’s biggest creditor and shareholder. The company, which was founded in 2002, is secretive, KCUR reported. Its managing partner, Anthony Melchiorre, was a one-time head of Morgan Stanley’s junk bond trading division.
“Reporters were frequently sickened by what they found,” Star editor Fannin wrote. “Decades of coverage that depicted Black Kansas Citians as criminals living in a crime-laden world. They felt shame at what was missing: the achievements, aspirations and milestones of an entire population routinely overlooked, as if Black people were invisible.”
The Star apologized for its actions and has published the first of six-part package examining the Star’s coverage of Kansas City, CNN reported.
“A positive step by the (Kansas City Star) with more needed,” Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas tweeted in response to the apology by the newspaper. “Now I hope my friends in the local TV news business do the same.”
Others commented on Twitter as well: “Slowly but surely we’ll get there, we’ll get to a time where all the racists pretend they aren’t.”
Another posted, “A sincere Bravo Kansas City Star … we’ve been here all along, we’re happy you see us now.”
But one tweeted pointed out that an apology needs to be accompanied by action such as reparations. “An apology is fine but it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t come with reparations.”
Stereotypical depictions of Black people have persisted in the media, according to social justice communications lab The Opportunity Agenda. “Decades of research reveal a persistent trend of distorted media depictions of Black men and boys that contribute to negative stereotypes, inequitable treatment, and unequal opportunity in areas ranging from employment, to education, policing and sentencing.”
Research by The Opportunity Agenda found that distorted media depictions can lead to negative attitudes toward African-American boys and men, such as increased public support for punitive approaches and tolerance for racial disparities.
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The Kansas City Star, which was founded in 1880, said it is encouraging other Kansas City businesses to examine their own racist histories as well. It announced the formation of The Kansas City Star Advisory Board to help guide news coverage in the future.
Other media outlets have already addressed their racist coverage. Three months ago, The Los Angeles Times acknowledged its own “blind spots” and said its staff was beginning the process of “acknowledging” biases and affirming that its newsroom will not tolerate prejudice, NBC News reported.
