“Some people say stories about minority communities often sound like visits to the zoo: "Oh, look at all the animals and the funny things they do!" Do you agree? If so, how can we prevent that?”
All genres of articles can be accused of not going deep enough. I think ethnic or cultural reporting is a genre that should not be slighted.
Ethnic reporting is a genre that is more affected by slight than any other because the groundwork for human success is to be able to work together. Articles on minority communities have opportunities to break down barriers than a lecture or a PSA announcement. Articles tell stories of real people. I believe there is still a majority if the U.S. population that believes in newspapers enough to trust that what they report is true.
If an article on immigration simply quotes that AZ congressman who said illegal immigrants “multiply like rats” to produce “anchor babies”, using him as an “expert”, the article does a huge injustice to that population because media is their only voice.
The best way to prevent this from happening is to adhere to a strict standard for news stories. The article must quote as many (or even more) regular people or people who are affected by the situation as it does experts. That is something we really don’t see enough because journalists struggle to maintain credibility and they assume the public will trust a seemingly educated and reputable source more than a real person who might not give an intellectual sounding quote.
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