VOA标准英语2015--研究探讨在体育报道的种族偏见

Study Examines Racial Bias¹ in Sports Reporting 研究探讨在体育报道的种族偏见

New research says African-American athletes are more likely to be portrayed² negatively in the media than white athletes. The findings appear in a new book, entitled How You See Me, How You Don’t.

Cynthia Frisby is an associate professor at the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism³. As part of her strategic communication course, she challenges her students to face any biases⁴ they may have when reporting a story.

Her interaction with her students eventually led her to research media coverage⁵ of male athletes – and whether black and white athletes receive different treatment.

Frisby chose 155 online news articles from Sports Illustrated⁶, the Bleacher Report, CNN, CBS Sports, Sporting News, Yahoo Sports, AOL, Sport Service and ESPN.

“Of the total stories 68, or 43.9 percent, were on white athletes. And 60, 38.7 percent, were on black,” she said.

She identified a number of themes, including crime, domestic violence, moral success or failure, cheating, lifestyle and individual accomplishments⁷. She began with her findings on crime-related stories.

“Sixty-six-point-seven percent of the stories were on crime that dealt with black athletes – compared to 22.2 percent for white. When it came to domestic and sexual violence stories 70.6, percent focused on the black athlete, whereas three, or 17.6 were on white. When it came to training, work ethic⁸, their dedication⁹, 42.9 percent were focused on white athletes, where 35.7 were on black,” she said.

Frisby gave other examples, as well.

“The morally successful stories: 83.3 percent were on white athletes, where there was only one story, which amounted to 8.3 percent, on black athletes. Accomplishments: 20 of the stories, 58 percent, were white, whereas eight stories, or 23.6 percent, were black. On their personal lifestyle: 42.9 percent were white versus¹⁰ 33.3 percent black. And then athletics¹¹ or skills or abilities: 46.2 percent were about white athletes and 23.1 percent, or three stories, were on black.”

One thing her research did not reveal was the race of the reporters behind the stories.

“You know, honestly, that’s something that I want to do in the future. It was very, very hard to determine by their bylines¹². And then we tried to do that, but it was just taking an immense amount of time because, you know, we’d have to go to the newspaper site and then look up their staff.”

Frisby said she wants her students to consider whether media portrayals¹⁴ of African-Americans are reflected in how they report.

“When it comes to blacks, there are three typical portrayals that we find in the media: criminal, entertainer or athletic,” she said.

A 2013 study, she said, shows many Americans believe black athletes are criminals. She questions whether that perception stems from modern TV, films and other media.

“A lot of times people would say when I was talking about my research, well, is it true that athletes are more aggressive? And I went to the crime rate and statistics numbers and was again a little surprised to find that athletes, in general, regardless, commit fewer crimes than the regular male in their same age group,” she said.

She also said that media portrayals of African-Americans may even affect how her students react to her.

“So, for example, I’m an African-American professor and I will have students that sometimes the only experience or contact that they’ve had with someone like me is through the media. And you would be surprised at how much media consumption plays a role in our attitudes and our formation of particular kinds of stereotypes¹⁵.”

One such portrayal¹³ of African-Americans, she said, is found in rap music.

“We know white suburban¹⁶ boys love rap music. What if you see these images and then you get to me, which I violate all of that, how do you respond to that disparity and discrepancy¹⁷ of what you’ve come to know through the media and now you’ve met somebody that doesn’t fit? Do you discount her?”

The University of Missouri journalism associate professor said her research is just a first step. While she hopes it raises awareness¹⁸ for today’s reporters, it also raises many questions about how stereotypes are formed and affect behavior.

1 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

2 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

4 biases   

偏见( bias的名词复数 )； 偏爱； 特殊能力； 斜纹

参考例句：

• Stereotypes represent designer or researcher biases and assumptions, rather than factual data. 它代表设计师或者研究者的偏见和假设，而不是实际的数据。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• The net effect of biases on international comparisons is easily summarized. 偏差对国际比较的基本影响容易概括。

5 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

6 illustrated   

adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• His lecture was illustrated with slides taken during the expedition. 他在讲演中使用了探险时拍摄到的幻灯片。
• The manufacturing Methods: Will be illustrated in the next chapter. 制作方法将在下一章说明。

7 accomplishments   

n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就

参考例句：

• It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
• Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 ethic   

n.道德标准，行为准则

参考例句：

• They instilled the work ethic into their children.他们在孩子们的心中注入了职业道德的理念。
• The connotation of education ethic is rooted in human nature's mobility.教育伦理的内涵根源于人本性的变动性。

9 dedication   

n.奉献，献身，致力，题献，献辞

参考例句：

• We admire her courage,compassion and dedication.我们钦佩她的勇气、爱心和奉献精神。
• Her dedication to her work was admirable.她对工作的奉献精神可钦可佩。

10 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

11 athletics   

n.运动，体育，田径运动

参考例句：

• When I was at school I was always hopeless at athletics.我上学的时候体育十分糟糕。
• Our team tied with theirs in athletics.在田径比赛中，我们队与他们队旗鼓相当。

12 bylines   

n.报刊文章撰稿人签名处( byline的名词复数 )；署名；铁路支线；副业

参考例句：

13 portrayal   

n.饰演；描画

参考例句：

• His novel is a vivid portrayal of life in a mining community.他的小说生动地描绘了矿区的生活。
• The portrayal of the characters in the novel is lifelike.该书中的人物写得有血有肉。

14 portrayals   

n.画像( portrayal的名词复数 )；描述；描写；描摹

参考例句：

• And painters alluded to her eroticism in their bare breasted portrayals of the dying queen. 画家们把她描绘为裸胸垂死的贪欲的女王。 来自互联网

15 stereotypes   

n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
• It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

16 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

17 discrepancy   

n.不同；不符；差异；矛盾

参考例句：

• The discrepancy in their ages seemed not to matter.他们之间年龄的差异似乎没有多大关系。
• There was a discrepancy in the two reports of the accident.关于那次事故的两则报道有不一致之处。

18 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。