Author to address race, media relations

Robert Entman, co-author of "The Black Image in the White Mind: Media and Race in America," will speak from 7:30-9:30 p.m. today in room 251 of the Radio and TV Building.\n"What Flavor is Your Ballot" is a pre-election presentation discussing the differences and effects among electoral politics and the media because of color and race. The event, co-sponsored by the Commission of Multicultural Understanding and the Office of the Vice President for Student Development and Diversity, aims to target all individuals, especially those with interest in media and its influences on the audience, said Grace Jackson-Brown, librarian for the Black Culture Center Library.\nA panel discussion from 4-5 p.m. today in the Indiana Memorial Union's Oak Room will feature Yvette Alex-Assensoh, a political science assistant professor, and Audrey Wilson, an assistant journalism professor. They will present a question and answer seminar pertaining to media, politics and the representation of people of color.\n"This presentation will hopefully get people talking about race issues," Jackson-Brown said. "People are not open to talk about the topic of race. We're not all media experts."\n Entman, along with fellow author and assistant journalism professor Andrew Rojecki, use the media as indicators for race relation barometers, according to www.raceandmedia.com. \n Television shows and local news networks use African Americans to subtly release hidden messages pertaining to the ignorance of racial harmony, according to the Web site. \n Additionally, Entman and Rojecki created what is called The Entman-Rojecki Index of Race and the Media, a survey conducted in Indianapolis pertaining to racial attitudes. According to the results, more than 70 percent of African-American characters in high-rated television shows maintain professional or management positions. But 91.8 percent of the African-American interactions with white characters are strictly job-related.\nWilson said she addresses these issues in the classes she teaches and hopes to bring awareness of these stereotypes to a wider audience tonight.\n"Often African Americans are in the background in group shots and print advertising," she said. "Sometimes we're seen in subordinate roles of service or assistance or we're portrayed mainly or often as entertainers singing and dancing."\nBesides speaking about racial issues and attitudes, Entman will also discuss issues referring to the upcoming presidential election and how the results will affect people of different races, Jackson-Brown said.\n"An important topic is the affirmative action in the election," Jackson-Brown said.\nCopies of Entman's book are in the African American Cultural Center Library, as well as the Undergraduate Library.