Racism Declarations and Local TV News Coverage of Racism

• In Event: The Intrinsic Relationship between Local Politics and Public Health

Abstract

Since 2020, there has been a growing trend among local, state, and federal entities to declare racism as a public health crisis in their communities. These declarations have created opportunities to raise public awareness on the issue of racism and have provided a platform for advocates and policymakers to propose policies and allocate resources to address the problem. This study aims to contribute to this discussion in two ways. First, it examines the political and sociodemographic factors that predict the enactment of a declaration at the media market level. Second, it analyzes the impact of such declarations on local TV news coverage of racism. To do so, we use a broad corpus of newscasts from all media markets and local TV stations across the U.S., covering the period from January 1, 2020, to March 12, 2023. We discuss the implications of these findings for the politics of health equity at the local level.

Authors

• Natalia Moreira, Wesleyan University

• Sarah E. Gollust, University of Minnesota

• Erika Franklin Fowler, Wesleyan University

• Steven Moore, Wesleyan University