Handling Race and Ethnicity

Read News U file it’s the instructions. Handling Race and Ethnicity is the info file(IT’S THE QUIZ ) the first part of the instructions  so you know what’s going on  to WRITE 2 PAGES  

NEWS U: HANDLING RACE AND ETHNICITY 
http://www.newsu.org/courses/handling-race-and-ethnicity

● On the right side of the screen at top of page, do search for “Handling Race and 

Ethnicity” 

● Create a new account  

● Start the class – ​HANDLING RACE AND ETHNICITY 

● Go through each of the areas on the left side of the screen, including all the drop 

down tabs under each section. It takes about an hour. 

● At the top of the page—when finished—click on course report. 

● Include a screenshot of your completed course report with your submission of 

paper to BB.  

PAPER DIRECTIONS 
Discuss how you did in the course–breaking it down by section. Was it surprising? 
What did you learn? What did you like/dislike about the course? What is the most 
important thing you will take from this exercise? 
 
Double spaced, two pages. 
Paper must be submitted via blackboard ​Sunday, Feb. 16 @ midnight​. Project worth 75 pts. 

INTRODUCTION 
Race, Ethnicity, Heritage, Background 
 
GO TO AWARENESS 
Take RACE quiz  
 
LOOK AT ETHNICITY 
Place people in groups and react 
 
TYPES OF ID 
Learn the types 
Test yourself 
Discuss 
 
SUSPECT ID 
Is race relevant 

Course summary

The question of whether and how to include racial and ethnic descriptions in news stories is one of the most debated and least understood topics of journalism. When handled poorly, the consequences can be explosive. But the reward for handling the decision with skill is great: You honor journalism’s highest values – accuracy, fairness and contextual truth, as well as clarity and precision in the use of language.

In this course, you’ll examine your own assumptions about race and ethnicity. You’ll learn how to approach this delicate topic with confidence, and you’ll explore a framework to help you and your news organization make more thoughtful and informed decisions about word choices. You’ll learn how to discuss the issue with awareness, skill, care, thoughtfulness and critical thinking. And you’ll reach for more precise ways of describing the way people look.

Journalists routinely use race and ethnicity in their stories to describe individuals and groups. Yet, as descriptions, race and ethnicity are imprecise and often inaccurate. Terms such as black, white, Native American, Asian and Hispanic carry no true color. Don’t believe it? You will after you finish the “What does ethnicity look like?” interactive activity.

What will I learn

· Identify the way you view matters of race and ethnicity and gain insights into new ways of thinking

· Deconstruct the forms of racial and ethnic identification that appear in news stories so you can make more thoughtful and informed choices about word choices

· Confront the white-hot issue of suspect identification and reach for more precise ways of describing the way people look

Who should take this course

Anyone who describes people in the course of their reporting. Whether you are writing about the person police say robbed a convenience store or the new president of the local college, you will be tempted to – or tormented by the prospect of having to – describe a person’s ethnicity. This course will help you learn to make more thoughtful decisions.

Welcome to Handling Race and Ethnicity

ACCURACY

1. Conformity to fact.

 

2. Precision; exactness.

 

3. The ability of a measurement to match the actual value of the quantity being measured

FAIRNESS

1. Being in accordance with relative merit or significance.

 

2. Consistent with rules, logic, or ethics: a fair tactic.

 

3. Moderately good; acceptable or satisfactory. Superficially true or appealing; specious.

PRECISION

1. The state or quality of being precise; exactness.

 

2. The ability of a measurement to be consistently reproduced.

 

3. The number of significant digits to which a value has been reliably measured

At the core of the journalistic discussionー and at the heart of this courseーlie some of the profession’s cornerstone values: accuracy, fairness and precision. Choosing the right words and deploying them at the right time are essential to excellent journalism, no matter what the subject. But when the subject is race and ethnicity, in which the wrong choice can cause great harm and misunderstanding, journalism’s values demand greater care.

In “Handling Race and Ethnicity,” you’ll have a chance to think through the choices available to journalists and expand your thinking on when and how race and ethnicity are used in storytelling. You’ll also have opportunities to tell us what you think and to share your experiences in using race and ethnicity.

What exactly is race and how is it different from ethnicity? Heritage? Background? The words don’t all mean the same thing. Journalists in pursuit of precision need to be sure they’re using the right word for the right circumstance.

Race (n.) ー A local geographic or global human population distinguished as a more or less distinct group by genetically transmitted physical characteristics.
Ethnicity (n.) ー An ethnic quality or affiliation resulting from racial or cultural ties.
Heritage (n.) ー Something that is passed down from preceding generations; a tradition.
Background (n.) ー A person’s experience, training and education.

(Definitions above come from the American Heritage Dictionary.)

Awareness

It matters how we use race and ethnicity.

As unexamined details, the words often inaccurately suggest motive or cause behind action. As descriptors, they can lump groups of people whose physical characteristics vary wildly into one, monolithic whole. As superfluous facts, they unnaturally separate or segregate, pulling people out of the whole and turning them into “others.”

Rarely is race or ethnicity a benign fact in stories. That’s because such identifiers have formed the rationale for genocide, slavery, unjust laws and the ubiquitous prejudice of modern times. It is language that comes with baggage, and journalists interested in communicating accurately, fairly and precisely need to unpack the language and use it with purpose.

To do that, you must first become aware of your own knowledge and beliefs about what race and ethnicity represent.

What’s the point?

Race is a creation of sociology, not biology. In this country–as in others–categorizing people by race was not merely an anthropological exercise, but a means of supporting discrimination by connecting skin color to such qualities as intellect, talent, criminality or work ethic. Journalists should know this history and improve their skills at more precisely using the language of race in their reporting.

Ethnicity will only get more interesting as the world gets “smaller.” Do the next excercise and see how truly complex race and ethnicity can be.

The titles on the tabs below each include the name of one group. Using the tabs to expand each group you’ll be able to to see how complex race and ethnicity can be when you’re tasked with picking out people that belong to a specific group.

The first tab is open for you, click on the photos of people below you believe belong to that group. You will get a green check if you’re correct or a red “x” if you’re incorrect. Each activity has a specific number of correct people and each time you’re correct look at the bottom of the interactivity to learn more about that person’s background.

Work your way through all six interactives to successfully complete the activity

Types of ID

Race and ethnicity appear in stories all the time: in politics, sports, crime news, education or business. But because they are packed with so much meaning – real or inferred – race and ethnicity should be used with thought and purpose. Sometimes it simply doesn’t belong in the story. More often, its misapplied, poorly explained and left dangling in search of context.

Armed with a vocabulary for thinking about the ways that race and ethnicity are used in storytelling, journalists can more deliberately examine each usage, delete the superfluous, explain the unexplained, contextualize the misplaced and level out the uneven. The winner, in the end, will be the reader, viewer, listener or user who’ll get the news straight. They’ll also gain a bonus: an example, from you, of how to talk more precisely about race and ethnicity.

Inexplicable

Sometimes race or ethnicity is mentioned for no apparent reason: Police provide it in a news release; someone says it in an interview. We notice race and ethnicity most often when it’s people who are different from us: A white man tells his friend about the “black woman” who came into his office. A Latina tells her husband about her daughters play date with an “Asian child.” And sometimes, that kind of purposeless identification winds up in stories.

INITIAL

Local Soldier Mourned

Michael Bumgartner was sitting in his living room Thursday when he looked out his front window to see three black men walking up to his front door. They were dressed in military uniforms and had the stern, intense look of people bearing bad news.

When he opened the door, the men stepped inside and confirmed Bumgartner’s suspicions. His 21-year-old son, they told him, had been killed in Iraq. William V. Bumgartner died three days after a roadside bomb exploded, wounding him and killing three other soldiers instantly.

Bumgartner described his son as smart and dedicated to his Army comrades.

Explanation: The race of the soldiers is not the point of the lead, but placing it there gives the impression that their race is significant. For the public, the reference is inexplicable.

REVISED

Local Soldier Mourned

Michael Bumgartner was sitting in his living room Thursday when he looked out his window to see three men walking up to his front door. They were dressed in military uniforms and had the stern, intense look of people bearing bad news.

When he opened the door, the men stepped inside and confirmed Bumgartner’s suspicions. His 21-year-old son, they told him, had been killed in Iraq. William V. Bumgartner died three days after a roadside bomb exploded, wounding him and killing three other soldiers instantly.
Bumgartner described his son as smart and dedicated to his Army comrades.

Explanation: The solution for this type of inexplicable identification is to delete the reference to race.

Misplaced

Sometimes race or ethnicity is a critical element of the story, but only in one part of the story. It belongs in the lead when it’s central to the point of the story, and it belongs elsewhere when the facts of the story make it relevant. When misplaced, the ID either overemphasizes or understates the importance of that fact.

·

INITIAL

Indian Charged in Deaths

A Seminole Indian was charged Tuesday in the shooting deaths of his two children, who were asleep in their home when they were killed.

Russell Shelton, 48, was taken into custody at his parents’ home. Police said a neighbor called to report that Shelton had been seen walking in the street crying, holding a handgun.

Seminole tribal leaders announced Tuesday that they will seek jurisdiction of the case on the grounds that the tribe has sovereignty in such matters. State prosecutors said they will fight to maintain control of the case.

Explanation: It becomes relevant only in the third paragraph that Shelton is Native American. Before then, it’s a story about a father accused of killing his children. By putting his ethnicity in the headline and lead paragraph, ethnicity becomes much more important to the story than it is.

·

REVISED

FATHER Charged in Deaths

A 48-year-old father of two was charged Tuesday, in the shooting deaths of his two children, who were asleep in their home when they were killed.

Russell Shelton, 48, was taken into custody at his parents’ home. Police said a neighbor called to report that Shelton had been seen walking in the street crying, holding a handgun.

Tribal leaders from the Seminole reservation announced Tuesday that they will seek jurisdiction of the case on the grounds that the tribe has sovereignty in such matters. Shelton is a member of the tribe. State prosecutors said they will fight to maintain control of the case.

Remove early references to ethnicity. Place ethnic reference where it is relevant.

Uneven

In stories of conflict or comparison, writers often will point out the race or ethnicity of one person or group but not that of those on the opposing side.

·
INITIAL

Rock and Soul at Amphitheater Tonight

They’ll get together under the lights of the Metropolitan Open-Air Auditorium, two of the giants in American music. Bruce Springsteen, he of blue-collar anthems, and Frankie Beverly, the smooth crooner from Pennsylvania, will bring their distinctive styles to sold-out audiences over three nights beginning Friday.

Springsteen is expected to attract a post-hippie crowd still pining for the “Glory Days” of the early 1980w, while Beverly’s fan base largely is black music lovers who long for the time when Motown was king.

Springsteen is expected to attract a post-hippie crowd still pining for the “Glory Days” of the early 1980s, while Beverly’s fan base largely is black music lovers who long for the time when Motown was king.

John Legend, who moved from backup singer to headliner in the spring, will open for the duo.

Explanation: If the racial makeup of Beverly’s fans is relevant, so, too, is the racial makeup of Springsteen’s following. Too often, race and ethnicity are deemed relevant only when talking about people of color.

·
REVISED

Rock and Soul at Amphitheatre

They’ll get together under the lights of the Metropolitan Open-Air Auditorium, two of the giants in American music. Bruce Springsteen, he of blue-collar anthems, and Frankie Beverly, the smooth crooner from Pennsylvania, will bring their distinctive styles to sold-out audiences over three nights beginning Friday.

Springsteen is expected to attract a largely white, post-hippie crowd still pining for the “Glory Days” of the early 1980w, while Beverly’s fan base mostly is black R&B music lovers who long for the time when Motown was king.

Springsteen is expected to attract a post-hippie crowd still pining for the “Glory Days” of the early 1980s, while Beverly’s fan base largely is black music lovers who long for the time when Motown was king.
John Legend, who moved from backup singer to headliner in the spring, will open for the duo.

Two possible solutions here, both of which even out the uneven ID: 1. Remove reference to “black” fans and replace with more relevant description (i.e. “R&B”); 2. Add reference to “white” Springsteen fans, if race factors more specifically into the story.

Unexplained

In many stories, there’s a good reason why race or ethnicity is relevant. But because journalists think it’s self evident or haven’t reported the reasons deeply enough or just didn’t think about it, the explanation doesn’t make it into the story.

·
INITIAL

Robber Targets Vietnamese

A 19-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday and charged with a string of robberies in the largely Vietnamese community of Eastover. Lon Luc Tran was taken into custody at his home in Eastover.

Police say Tran may have victimized as many as 22 homes in the community, where many of the residents are Vietnamese. Tran is expected to enter a plea Thursday. His lawyer, Abram Johns, said his client is innocent.

Explanation: Many times such stories include ethnicity or race because police suspect one or the other was relevant to the crime. In this case, further reporting would find that Tran targeted first-generation Vietnamese who, police said, were less proficient in English and more suspicious of authorities, thus, less likely to report crimes. Ethnicity, then, is relevant but unexplained.

·
REVISED

Robber Targets Vietnamese
A 19-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday and charged with a string of robberies in the largely Vietnamese community of Eastover. Lon Luc Tran was taken into custody at his home in Eastover.

Police say Tran may have victimized as many as 22 homes in the community, where many of the residents are Vietnamese. He allegedly targeted first-generation immigrants who speak little English and are suspicious of authorities, police say, making them less likely to report such crimes to police.

Racial ID is rendered relevant by including more information.

Test Yourself

Click on the quiz below, to test your knowledge of types of racial and ethnic identification. Because handling race and ethnicity well is important regardless of the medium, the following examples represent both print and broadcast copy.

 

*All the sample stories in this course have been created specifically for instructional purposes. While some are based on true stories, all are fictional.

Types of ID Quiz

Read each example story, then click the answer that you believe to be the best choice. Click on the NEXT ARROW to move to the next question.

Types of ID Quiz

Question 1 of 8

1. Question

Gang Summit Gets Under Way

ON CAM:

 

COMMUNITY LEADERS ARE GATHERING THIS MORNING TO HAMMER OUT A COMPROMISE BETWEEN ASIAN AND LATINO GANGS IN THE WAKE OF YET ANOTHER DRIVE-BY SHOOTING IN WEST COUNTY. INITIAL REPORTS FROM THE MEETING SUGGEST THAT GANG LEADERS ARE WILLING TO ENFORCE A CEASE-FIRE WHILE MEDIATORS LOOK INTO THE CIRCUMSTANCES SURROUNDING THE MOST RECENT SHOOTING.

SOT, MARK REYNOLDS ACORN:

“THIS VIOLENCE NEEDS TO STOP, SO WHATEVER WE CAN DO TO GET THAT DONE FIRST, WE’RE WILLING TO DO. THERE’LL BE TIME FOR BLAME AND TIME FOR LOOKING AHEAD LATER. LETS STOP THE BLOODSHED FIRST.”

VO FILE:

POLICE ARE STILL INVESTIGATING TUESDAY NIGHT’S SHOOTING OF SAM WONG, WHO WAS GUNNED DOWN AS HE LEFT CELEBRITY’S NIGHTCLUB WITH FRIENDS. IT WAS THE FOURTH GANG-RELATED SHOOTING IN SIX DAYS. WONG WAS A MEMBER OF THE PALMER STREET KINGPINS, A GANG MADE UP MOSTLY OF CHINESE-AMERICANS. WITNESSES SAID THE GUNMAN WAS WEARING THE COLORS OF THE SUNSET RAIDERS, A PUERTO RICAN GANG THATS BATTLED THE KINGPINS FOR TERRITORY IN RECENT MONTHS. POLICE BELIEVE REVENGE IS BEHIND THE KILLING.

SOT, CYNTHIA WIGGINS, WEST COUNTY POLICE PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER:

“THESE KIDS ARE SHOOTING ONE ANOTHER UP OVER DUMB THINGS, THEN THEY’VE GOT TO AVENGE THE LAST KILLING WITH ANOTHER ONE. WHO KNOWS WHAT THE ORIGINAL MOTIVE WAS?”

· INEXPLICABLE

· MISPLACED

· UNEXPLAINED

· UNEVEN

2. Question

Union Meets to Head Off Strike

The city’s sewer and sanitation workers union will meet Friday to consider three proposals to increase pay and benefits, a gathering union officials say is meant to avert a costly strike that could paralyze the city at the height of convention season.

The workers, most of them working-class poor and white, say they cannot continue to live on wages that hover just above federal poverty guidelines. Union spokesman Ed Norton said the workers have “made reasonable requests to be given a living wage. We can’t remain reasonable much longer.”

City negotiators declined to be interviewed for this story.

· INEXPLICABLE
· MISPLACED
· UNEXPLAINED
· UNEVEN

3. Question

A “Crash” of Cultures in the Theater

The movie “Crash,” which opens today, stirs the emotions of audiences by setting up a relentless series of racial encounters that reveal the complex nature of American race relations.

Actor Matt Dillon plays a jaded police officer who’s having a bad day trying to get medical help for his father. He first has a run-in with a black social worker then later takes out his frustration on a black man (Terrence Howard) and his wife (Nona Gaye).

Plot twists take that single story line and turn it in dramatic unexpected ways.

· INEXPLICABLE
· MISPLACED
· UNEXPLAINED
· UNEVEN

4. Question

Child Mauled By Dog

ON CAM:
THREE-YEAR-OLD MATTHEW ALEXANDER WAS EXCITED WHEN HIS MOM TOLD HIM THEY WERE GOING OUT FOR A MORNING STROLL. NOW HE’S IN THE HOSPITAL WITH SEVERE INJURIES AFTER A NEIGHBOR’S DOG ATTACKED THE CHILD WHILE HIS MOTHER SCREAMED FOR HELP.

VO MEMORIAL HOSPITAL:

MATTHEW WAS RUSHED HERE, TO MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, WITH PUNCTURE WOUNDS TO THE FACE AND HANDS. HE’S RESTING NOW, SURROUNDED BY STUFFED ANIMALS SENT THERE BY WELL-WISHERS. IT WAS A DIFFERENT STORY ONLY HOURS EARLIER.

SOT, GERMAINE ALEXANDER, MATT’S MOM:

“THE DOG MUST’VE BEEN LYING BEHIND A GARBAGE CAN OR SOMETHING BECAUSE I DIDN’T SEE HIM UNTIL HE WAS JUMPING IN THE AIR ONTO MY BABY. I STARTED HITTING IT AND SCREAMING FOR SOMEBODY TO COME HELP. THE DOG JUST LOOKED CRAZY.”

VO:

GERMAINE ALEXANDER SAID AN ASIAN MAN WALKING NEARBY HEARD HER SCREAMS AND GRABBED A TREE BRANCH TO BEAT THE DOG OFF. THE DOG, A GERMAN SHEPHERD NAMED BUTCH, WAS TAKEN TO THE COUNTY SPCA FOR OBSERVATION UNTIL POLICE CAN SPEAK TO ITS OWNER, WHO WAS OUT OF TOWN AND COULD NOT BE REACHED FOR COMMENT.

ON CAM:

GERMAINE ALEXANDER SAID HER SON HAS LOST A LOT OF BLOOD, BUT DOCTORS SAY THEY EXPECT HIM TO RECOVER. HIS MOM SAYS HE’S VERY FOND OF DOGS, BUT FOR NOW, THE ONLY ANIMALS SHE’LL ALLOW NEAR HIM ARE THE STUFFED KIND.

· INEXPLICABLE
· MISPLACED
· UNEXPLAINED
· UNEVEN

5. Question

Powell: Demand A Better World

Gen. Colin Powell, the black former secretary of state, told the graduating class at Harvard’s law school that they should not be afraid to “demand a world that is free of war and poverty, the twin enemies of prosperity.”

Powell, who received an honorary degree from the venerable institution, said students should not wait until they reach his age to stand up to injustice. “There have been times when powerful people held their tongues at critical moments,” he said. “You should know no such hesitation. Our world cannot afford the price of silence.”

More than 700 students received diplomas at the 369-year-old institution. Powell, who was born in Harlem to Jamaican immigrant parents, spoke about his humble roots and his general lack of ambition as a high school and college student. His life since then, he told the audience, has been in pursuit of something greater.

“It’s hard to be the first at so many things,” Powell said, “but you learn something from the experience: that it’s not always popular to stand alone. But it’s almost always essential.”

· INEXPLICABLE
· MISPLACED
· UNEXPLAINED
· UNEVEN

6. Question

Arabs Arrested in Bomb Scare

After three weeks of exhaustive, door-to-door interviews, sheriffs deputies arrested two Middle Eastern brothers for phoning in a bomb threat that emptied five Rochester high schools in early October.

The men, students at Calmer Community College, were detained at the home of their uncle pending charges. They could face federal terrorism charges under the Patriot Act.

Arrested were Khalil Ansari, 19, and his brother Mustafa, 20. Sheriff’s spokesman Andrea Barbera said an anonymous tip led investigators to the brothers. A neighbor, Shawn Malone, said people in the area were suspicious of the two because the Jordanian men are in the country on student visas.

“In this day and age, you have to wonder every time you hear an Arab name,” Malone said. “We’ve kept an eye on them ever since they moved in there.”

· INEXPLICABLE
· MISPLACED
· UNEXPLAINED
· UNEVEN

7. Question

2 Charged in Clinic Scam

ON CAM:

TWO SOUTH COUNTY MEN ARE IN JAIL TONIGHT, ACCUSED OF ENDANGERING THE LIFE OF A TODDLER, PRACTICING MEDICINE WITHOUT A LICENSE AND STEALING THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS FROM UNWITTING RESIDENTS.

GFX:

POLICE ARRESTED THESE TWO MEN – ROBERTO ORTIZ AND ERNESTO MORENO. ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF MATTHEW URBANA SAID AT A NEWS CONFERENCE THAT THE MEN TREATED A TWO-YEAR-OLD FOR TWO MONTHS AT THE CONSULTORIO MEDICO BEFORE THE CHILD HAD TO BE RUSHED TO A NEARBY EMERGENCY ROOM SUFFERING FROM DEHYDRATION AND KIDNEY FAILURE.

SOT SHERIFF MATTHEW URBANA:

“THE SUSPECTS WERE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THESE PEOPLE, AND NOW IT LOOKS LIKE A CHILD IS GOING TO DIE OR HAVE LIFE-ALTERING INJURIES BECAUSE OF THEIR ACTIONS. OUR INVESTIGATION ISN’T OVER YET.”

VO FILE:

THE MEN WERE OPERATING OUT OF THIS SOUTH COUNTY MEDICAL CENTER, WHICH SERVES A MOSTLY HISPANIC CLIENTELE. NEWS6 HAS REPORTED ON HEALTH CODE VIOLATIONS INVOLVING THIS CLINIC IN THE PAST. A NURSE FAMILIAR WITH THOSE STORIES ALTERED POLICE WHEN THE CHILD, WHOM WE ARE NOT NAMING, WAS BROUGHT TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM.

ON CAM:

NOW A TODDLER FIGHTS FOR HIS LIFE, TWO MEN ARE BEHIND BARS, AND A COMMUNITY IS AWAKENING TO A SCANDAL.

· INEXPLICABLE MISPLACED UNEXPLAINED UNEVEN

· MISPLACED
· UNEXPLAINED
· UNEVEN

8. Question

Mayor Blasts Planning Director

ON CAM:

MAYOR TOM LITTLE BEAR LASHED OUT AT ONE OF HIS DEPARTMENT HEADS AT A THURSDAY NIGHT MEETING FOR HER FAILURE TO RESOLVE FESTERING RACIAL DISCORD AMONG HER STAFF.

VO:

THE MAYOR, THE ONLY NATIVE AMERICAN ELECTED OFFICIAL IN THE FIVE-COUNTY REGION, SAID CITY PLANNING DIRECTOR MARILYN HOUSE IS NOT WORKING IN THE INTEREST OF HER CONSTITUENTS.

SOT, MAYOR LITTLE BEAR: 

“YOU’VE SHOWN BY YOUR ACTIONS A PROFOUND CONTEMPT FOR THE WELFARE OF THE PEOPLE BEING HURT BY BIGOTRY IN YOUR DEPARTMENT.”

VO:

THE MAYOR ORDERED AN IMMEDIATE REVIEW OF HOUSE’S ACTIONS AFTER A COALITION OF EMPLOYEES FILED A RACIAL DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT AGAINST THE CITY THREE MONTHS AGO.

CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT ARTHUR ROSENHEIM, WHO IS AT HOME RECUPERATING FROM SURGERY, AGREED WITH LITTLE BEAR, SENDING A STRONG MESSAGE TO THE PLANNING DIRECTOR IN A MEMO READ ALOUD BY ONE OF HIS AIDES.

SOT, ROSENHEIM AIDE MANNY TROXLER:

“GO BACK TO YOUR DEPARTMENT AND REDEEM YOUR REPUTATION AND THIS CITY’S REPUTATION AS CHAMPIONS OF TOLERANCE. COME BACK WITH A PLAN TO CHANGE THAT, OR MAYBE YOU SHOULD COME BACK WITH A LETTER OF RESIGNATION.”

VO:

HOUSE LEFT THE MEETING WITHOUT TALKING TO THE MEDIA.

· INEXPLICABLE
· MISPLACED
· UNEXPLAINED
· UNEVEN

Results

8 of 8 questions answered correctly

You have reached 8 of 8 point(s), (100%)

Suspect ID

One of the most disputed arenas for racial and ethnic identification in journalism is the identification of crime suspects. Here’s a provocative way of thinking about when, if ever, race/ethnicity is relevant in a description.

Is Race Relevant

PRESS RELEASE

On Saturday, 3-19-2005, two officers from the Metropolitan Police Force responded to a 911 call regarding shots fired in the 2000 block of Prytania Street. Upon arriving at the scene, the officers observed two Hispanic males fleeing.

Officers Arthur Guidry and James Cosey gave chase on foot down an alley but abandoned pursuit when the suspects entered a green Chevrolet and executed an escape.

Officer Cosey obtained a statement from three witnesses who said the suspects argued with three unidentified males in another vehicle. Witnesses observed one of the suspects pulling a weapon and firing into the car, The intended targets fled. At this time there is no information pertaining to whether anyone suffered wounds due to the shooting.

The suspects were described as Hispanic males, approximately 20 to 25 years of age. The suspects were wearing sports jerseys and baggy denim jeans. The victims were described as Africa-American males of undetermined age.

It Depends…

Compare these two stories. The one without ethnicity is incomplete because it doesn’t give the context to the event. Adding ethnicity rounds out the story you tell.

INCOMPLETE STORY
Slurs Fly, Then Fists

Two teenagers who police say were caught up in a clash of ethnic groups were in custody Saturday after fighting words led to fisticuffs.

The juveniles, whose names were withheld because of their age, collided in Hunter’s Field playground at the corner of Claiborne and St. Bernard avenues. Witnesses told police one group of boys beat a youth from another group after slurs were exchanged.

When police arrived everyone ran.

Police had filed no charges by late Saturday.

A BETTER WAY
Slurs Fly, Then Fists
Two teenagers who police say were caught up in a clash of ethnic groups were in custody Saturday after fighting words led to fisticuffs.

The juveniles, whose names were withheld because of their age, collided in Hunter’s Field playground at the corner of Claiborne and St. Bernard avenues. Witnesses told police a group of Hispanic boys beat an Asian boy and told him they didn’t “want none of you Vietnamese around here.”

When police arrived everyone ran.

According to officers James Cosey and Arthur Guidry, the two detained juveniles said they had been provoked by the Asian boys, who allegedly shouted “dirty Mexicans” at the Hispanic teens. Police had filed no charges by late Saturday.

How I grade your News U assignment  

5 points: Does the writing makes sense. If it’s riddled with errors and I am not sure of 
what I am reading, I have to object. 
 
5 points: Does your paper have an introduction showing me you know a little bit about 
writing? 

Good Example: When I enrolled in the NewsU course, Handling Race and 
Ethnicity, I had no idea how little I knew on the topic. From the introduction on, I 
learned some very cool stuff. (Then you would go on to talk about the cool stuff.) 

Bad Example: Yeah. It was cool. I learned a lot. Uh huh. 
 
5 points: Race, ethnicity, heritage and background 
 
5 points: Awareness quiz 
 
5 points: A look at ethnicity 
 
5 points: Types of ID—learn the types 
 
5 points: Types of ID—test yourself 
 
5 points: Suspect ID 
 
5 points: Describe a friend 
 
5 points: Conclusion.