Chapter 15 ‘Holding Up a Mirror to a Classless Society’ _ Justin Chou E.C.

Ray Suarez’s article in chapter 15 of L&C discusses the extent to which the media panders to different classes. The article ‘Holding Up a Mirror to a Classless Society’ also explains how the media portrays different classes on screen. Many will say that the media is merely a lens through which we see events. Reporting on the news, however, is highly biased and contingent on your race and class position. Suarez notes how often black men are arrested on camera while it is rare to see a white man arrested. Cameras often report what society expects to see, a colored family weeping for a deceased family member due to gang violence. In contrast, it is rare to see a rich white family crying on camera for a lost family member. Another example of how class is portrayed in the news is from kidnappings. National media frenzies are most common when a young white girl goes missing, we never see national media calling for help to find a missing black girl.

The media uses the archetypes of different classes to make it easy for viewers. Those on the lower end of the economic scale are seen as ‘raw material’ for the media. Individuals with more economic capital are not portrayed as grieving or ecstatic, their privacy is respected. The media bends to the will of the rich and exploits the poor. As newscasters claim to be unbiased but the stories they chose to report only perpetuate the stereotypes of different classes.