Cable News to Minorities & Women: Let's Talk About (Only) Sex and Race

New Report Illustrates How Media Increase Diversity Only When Race and Gender Are At Issue

Report is available online at: http://www.MediaMatters.org/CableDiversity

Washington, DC - In the wake of the controversy over Don Imus' racist and sexist remarks, the media have demonstrated their propensity to diversify their guest lists, if at all, only when exploring an issue of race or gender -- a finding detailed in Media Matters' report released Monday, "Locked Out: The Lack of Gender & Ethnic Diversity on Cable News Continues." During the week of the Imus controversy, the cable news networks marginally increased the representation of minorities on their broadcasts. But those gains vanished as the controversy has faded, relegating women and people of color once again to the back of the cable news room.

"For the cable news networks, seeking out women and people of color only when issues of race and gender arise has become too common a practice. It seems that CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC operate under the misinformed assumption that women and minorities are incapable of talking about other important issues of the day," said Karl Frisch, spokesman for Media Matters. "The cable news networks can reverse this trend today. These voices add perspective, depth and value to the quality of our public discourse, whatever the issue at hand."

Media Matters examined the three major cable news networks -- CNN, Fox News Channel, and MSNBC -- during viewing hours from 7 to 10 p.m. ET, documenting the gender and racial/ethnic makeup of guests during the weeknights before the Imus controversy (Monday, April 2, through Friday, April 6), the weeknights of the Imus controversy (Monday, April 9, through Friday, April 13), and the weeknights following the Imus controversy (Monday, April 23, through Friday, April 27; omitting the week directly following the Imus controversy because it was consumed almost entirely by a single issue, the Virginia Tech shootings, and thus was atypical). The results show that women and people of color were severely underrepresented as guests on these cable networks in the weeks before and after the Imus controversy, although the study found a small increase in racial/ethnic diversity during the controversy.

KEY FINDINGS:

Despite the attention paid to racial and gender issues by the media and the public in the wake of the Imus controversy, it appears little has been done to address the gross underrepresentation of women and people of color on the cable networks.

• During the week of the Imus controversy, the cable networks brought on a significant number of African-American guests. But both before and after the controversy, members of all minority groups, including African-Americans, were scarcely seen.

• On shows airing between 4 p.m. and midnight on cable news networks CNBC, CNN, CNN Headline News, MSNBC, and Fox News, there are 35 hosts and co-hosts: 29 are men and 6 are women -- and all 35 are white.

• In the three weeks covered by the study, less than 2 percent of the guests on CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC were Latino, despite the fact that one out of every seven Americans is Latino. Almost half of that small number of guest appearances by Latinos were by Geraldo Rivera.

• Excluding African-Americans, in the three weeks covered by the study, Latinos, Asian-Americans, and members of other ethnic groups never made up more than 5 percent of the guests on any of the three cable networks, CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC.

• On none of the networks, in none of the weeks studied, did women comprise half of the guests appearing. In some cases, they represented as little as one-fifth of all guests.

Report is available online at: http://www.MediaMatters.org/CableDiversity