PHEOC
 

Problem

Minorities and the media

Hypothesis

Minorities are underrepresented in local newspapers

Experiment

  1. Compile statistics on the number of articles relating to minorities in the United States.
    • Examine three portions of recent local papers (September 26 Star Tribune Front Page, Sports, and Business sections).
    • Count the total number of articles, columns, pictures, etc.
    • Count the total number of articles, columns, pictures, etc. that explicitly depict or refer to minorities
  2. Compile statistics on the number of minorities in Minnesota.
    • Census Bureau numbers for 2000
  3. Compare the percentage of minorities in the newspapers to the percentage of minorities in the general population.

Observations

  1. As illustrated in graph 1, the total number of articles, columns, pictures, etc in the newspaper sections was 160, while articles about minorities numbered 40. This equates to a minority presence percentage of 25%.
  2. As illustrated in graph 2, the percentage of people of a minority ethnic background in Minnesota is 10%.

Graph 1

Graph 2

Conclusions

As the population of Minnesota is approximately 10% minority, one would expect approximately 10% of the articles, columns, pictures, etc in the local newspapers to concern minorities. However, some 25% of the local coverage concerns people from a minority background. Thus, the hypothesis that minorities are underrepresented in the media is false.