← Black News Coverage Leaves a Lot to Be Desired

peace prize

By Deborah Creighton Skinner | Published July 27, 2010 | Full size is 479 × 320 pixels

Despite being the first African American president, Obama was only the No. 2 story explicitly related to coverage about African Americans. In all, 17.6% of the coverage of African Americans came through coverage of the Obama administration. Cable television and talk radio devoted the most time to storylines with African American angles, with 2.5% and 2.4%, respectively, of their newshole (time studied on their programs) containing significant mention of blacks. When Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, critics said he had few accomplishments to justify the award and is a defender of war. (Pew notes that the category doesn’t include policy-oriented stories over such matters as healthcare, but that it does include coverage that focused on or assessed the administration.) (Image source: White House)

Despite being the first African American president, Obama was only the No. 2 story explicitly…