[MUSIC] Welcome to the module on respecting diversity and the need to consider diverse view points. This includes avoiding stereotypes and labels. I'm Dr. Lucinda Davenport. I'm director of the School of Journalism at Michigan State University. When you disregard diversity, then you are turning people away from your stories and perhaps even offending them, and others, who might no longer read your stories in the future. Stories have multiple points of view, not just two. And issues, such as healthcare or taxes or a politician's promises, can have very different impacts on different people depending upon their socioeconomic level, their ethnicity, their religion, gender, and even sexual orientation. Journalists write the stories about issues and events that are filled with news and information that help people make good decisions to lead productive lives. And you can't do that by assuming everyone is interested, or not interested, in the same topics that you are or that everyone has your same point of view. This module is about diversity. Stereotypes and isms are implicit in that discussion. So let's talk about stereotypes first. Stop a moment and think about stereotypes. Think about the ones that have been attributed to you. Stereotypes about how you look, where you are from, how you talk, what you wear. And think about the stereotypes or assumptions that you have attributed to others. Maybe pause this video for a moment and write down about three to five stereotypes. Go ahead, I'll wait. I'll be here. Welcome back. Okay, now please examine the stereotypes that you wrote down. I'm willing to guess that most, if not all, are negative. What do you think? I teach a class in journalism ethics. When we discuss diversity, the students take turns sharing stereotypes that have been attributed to them. For example, red hair they said makes a quick and bad temper. Being Italian means I talk a lot about nothing. Being a black female must mean that she's unmarried and has several children. And living in a small town means that you probably aren't very well educated. And the list goes on. Most people don't like being stereotyped because they are negative. And these stereotypes become labels. It is not a good idea to stereotype or assume anything about anyone in your stories. Everyone is an individual and events and issues affect people differently. Journalists avoid stereotypes and they pay attention to diversity In the sources that they use, in visuals, in their word usage. For example, if I owned a print or digital newspaper or a TV station or wrote a blog that was full of only sources that were male and used only male pronouns such as he and him. And had only males in all my photos and videos. Then I am missing half the population. They would not see themselves in my stories or publications and not read them. I am not only offending people but I'm also missing a huge audience and potential business. The reason why many news organizations employ journalists with diverse backgrounds is because they have different ways of looking at how issues and events impact different segments of society. And they are are usually careful to be respectful of others. So thinking about and representing diversity is important because society is made up of many different individuals and different types of people. And thank goodness for that. Another reason to represent diversity appropriately is because many young people learn about the world through what they see and read in the news. The news shapes their ideas about the world. Journalists need to be careful not to indirectly teach the wrong things about the world to young people. Journalists need to respect diversity and avoid the negative impacts their words and visuals may have on audiences. They should be especially careful about words that are categorized as isms, such as racism, sexism, ageism. So let's discuss first racism. Avoid mentioning ethnic backgrounds or religion unless you can demonstrate that it is necessary to the story. Because not all criminals are a certain color and not everyone in a certain religion is a terrorist. Another ism is sexism. Men and women should be treated equally in stories. If you are writing about a woman, then ask yourself, would you write the same words about a man. For example, let's say that you are covering a press conference. So don't write what the female politician is wearing or how her hair looks if you wouldn't describe a male politician's clothing and the way his hair looks. Avoid gender specific words such as mailman or fireman. This connotes that all fire fighters are male or all people that work in the postal system are male. So use neutral words instead, such as firefighter and postal carrier. Both men and women should be referred to by their last names. Not a first name for the woman and a last name and a title for a man. That's not equal. She's not Cheryl and he's not Mr. Smith. Also, journalists confirm everyone's name. Sometimes a woman is not known for herself but instead as a possession. Instead of including her name, she is sometimes referred to as Representative John Smith and his wife. Wow, she just became a non-person. Sometimes the same thing happens with a female celebrity and their lesser known husband. Also females and males should be referenced appropriately according to age. Don't say a female is a girl if you wouldn't say a male is a boy of the same age. Children usually become adults at about age 16 or 18 or 21 depending upon the situation. So when you say that a 25 year old female is a girl then you're making her into a child. Would you call a 25 year old man a child or a boy? A third ism is ageism. Most older citizens are in excellent health and highly productive. They are not all lonely and weak and sick. Avoid using words that stereotype older adults. And if you wouldn't say something about someone who was 30, then don't say it about someone who is 70, unless it is relevant to the story. For example, if you are covering a story about an election, then that story is about who won the votes and why. Not about the difference in the age of the candidates or, for that matter, their gender or their religion or their ethnicity. Other types of stereotyping to avoid are physical and mental disabilities and religious groups. But the message here, for this module, is that diversity is all around us. When we are stereotyping, we are labeling others, often unfairly. Treating diversity with respect helps us to understand about each other and this makes for a better society and world in which we live. [MUSIC]
