Two-thirds of Latinos and three-fourths of African American news consumers said they don't think the media accurately portrays their communities, according to a survey released Tuesday by the Media Insight Project.
People of color who are "seeking out news about their communities, they can't find it. And what they see, they don't think is accurate," said Tom Rosenstiel, executive director of the American Press Institute.
Tia C. M. Tyree, a Howard University professor, said the small number of African-Americans and Hispanics in the media affects consumers' views of the news product.
The institute, which teamed with The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research on the project, found that 41 percent of Hispanics surveyed said the news they watch or read moderately portrays their community accurately and 21 percent said not at all. A third said the media portrays them "completely" or "very much." When asked how regularly Latino issues are covered in the news, Hispanics were split; 49 percent said very or somewhat regularly and 49 percent said occasionally or never.
--The Associated Press
IN-DEPTH