Resistance Through Encoding: African American Women Journalists and the News

• In Event: Intersections of Race and Ethnicity and Gender

Abstract

This study applies the cultural studies model of encoding/decoding, and intersectionality and standpoint theories, to ask whether African Americans women journalists challenge stereotypes and otherwise resist normative news constructions of race and gender. Interviews with 10 African American female TV and newspaper journalists found that they utilized various tactics to provide positive Black images and voices in the news, but did not similarly intervene in the coverage of women or gender issues.

Authors

• Marian J. Meyers, Georgia State U

• Lynne Gayle, Georgia State University