Do you think the news media promotes racism? or reverse?

[Ketchup]

As a kid, I always thought of the USA as a "melting pot," with forefathers from different places and different walks of life coming together to create what we know as the United States of America.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melting_pot

So I am a bit puzzled why, in 2015, our news media still finds it necessary to point out race/ skin color in the title of a news story.

"Cincinnati police officer indicted in shooting death of black man"
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ci...d-with-murder-of-black-man/ar-AAdFU2S#image=1

At least this one could hold it to a line right below the title:
"Cincinnati prosecutor says Ray Tensing ‘should never have been a police officer’ as body-camera footage is released of white officer killing unarmed black man"
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jul/29/cincinnati-police-shooting-samuel-dubose

I don't see them point out the skin color of the officer being charged, at all in the news story. Did I miss it?

What do you all think? Are you seeing this, or do I just the sites I am seeing?

Could be a poll, but I would rather see the discussion here.

Thread closed at the behest of the OP.

Perknose
Forum Director

 

[PhatoseAlpha]

Is there a particular reason why pointing out the race would be a problem, while pointing out gender is not?

 

[Ketchup]

Good point. Why is either necessary in a title?

To me, it is almost as if they want people to reach a judgement before even reading the article. Others might argue that they mention such details at the forefront to entice people to read it.

 

[cwjerome]

I think racial background is generally irrelevant, but it depends on the context. It seems to me that with all the controversial police shootings and such in the news the last year, this fits within the wider narrative of "official" violence against blacks, so race is probably a connected topic. I'm not crazy about the article title you mentioned, and yeah it's partly about grabbing attention and readership, but I also acknowledge it's connected to a broader social issue that's been pretty front and center.