So this is what "colorblind" journalism looks like?

[nenena]

Journalists! When you mention somebody for the first time in your article, be sure to include the most relevant information about that person in the very first sentence in which you mention him or her.

Let the professionals show you how it's done!

Here's how we introduce white people:

A key "American Idol" producer who's guided the top-rated TV show since its debut is leaving the job as the Fox juggernaut faces the challenge of staying on top in its eighth season. [CNN.com link]

Lou Teicher, one half of a duo that produced and performed popular theatrical recordings of big Hollywood movie themes, has died. [CNN.com link]

According to one file, Anna Stam, 41, a shop assistant, said she spoke to a girl aged three or four in Amsterdam who said her name was "Maddy". [BBC link]

It's always March in Loree Moser's living room in Redmond, Calif. That is, it's always March according to the calendar that features a shirtless photo of her 22-year-old son, Matthew, with one bicep-bulging arm hanging from a tree branch. [Newsweek link]

An unemployed graphic designer who authorities say poisoned himself with toxic ricin in his Las Vegas motel room pleaded guilty Monday to possessing a biological toxin. [MSNBC link]

Maryland Teen Allegedly Had Weapons, Map of Camp David: A map of President Bush's motorcade to Camp David was found last week in the possession of a teenager accused of stockpiling weapons and bomb-making materials, according to prosecutors. [Fox News link]

And here's how we introduce everyone else:

A Chinese immigrant accused of stabbing, beheading and cannibalizing a man on a Greyhound bus in Canada pleaded in court Tuesday for someone to "please kill me," and was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. [CNN.com link]

'Al-Qaeda' woman appears in court: A Pakistani woman scientist accused of links to the al-Qaeda leadership has appeared in a New York court charged with attempting to kill US soldiers. [BBC link]

Immigrant ‘hero’ honored by U.S., Mexico: An illegal immigrant who rescued a 9-year-old after the boy's mother died in the Arizona desert was honored for his actions Tuesday by U.S. and Mexican officials at a border crossing here. [MSNBC link]

Ex-policeman not guilty in death of NY immigrant: A former policeman was found not guilty Tuesday in the death of a homeless illegal immigrant who had a long history of arrests in the officer's jurisdiction. [Fox News link]

Street-racing immigrant to stay in juvenile custody: A teenager who was involved in a 2005 street-racing incident that killed a Myrtle Beach woman will remain in state Department of Juvenile Justice custody after a parole board rejected his request for early release. [Myrtle Beach Online link]

Note, this is also archived on the same website:

Teen denied parole: A juvenile involved in a street-racing incident that resulted in the 2005 death of a Myrtle Beach woman will remain in the custody of the state Department of Juvenile Justice after a parole board rejected a request for his early release this week. [Myrtle Beach Online link].

Hmmmm.

Notice a pattern? Or two? Or three?

(Everything quoted above, I found within a grand total of fifteen total minutes of poking around the major news sites.)

Associate Press style, some of you are still doing it wrong.

Linky-link: International Blog Against Racism Week. It is International Blog Against Racism Week! Read something, learn something, write something, and try to teach something.

Comments

[atelierjoh.livejournal.com]

*winces*

[lost-angelwings.livejournal.com]

I've noticed that so much in news reporting and just in general and it rly bothers me D: I hate how white is just treated as SO default :(

[the-terrible.livejournal.com]

Well, this ties in pretty closely with the privilege post.

[nenena.livejournal.com]

Yeah, no kidding. I surfed around for a while after I wrote this post, and I noticed that the only stories in which somebody's white race was mentioned were either a) stories about hate crimes or b) stories about police brutality, if there was a person of color involved in any capacity. In every other type of news story, however, the fact that somebody is white is just plain never mentioned. People of color, however? If their race isn't mentioned in the first sentence about them, it's always mentioned in the second or third. The only exception that I found were celebrities (i.e. Morgan Freeman and Penelope Cruz, whom I clicked through stories about), presumably because they're famous and everybody already knows their race.

[kalium-kx.livejournal.com]

It made me go the earl(my name is earl) WTF look..yeah well the press will always be the press sadly..

[neocloud9.livejournal.com]

Ach. *face/palm*

[inalasahl]

This reminds me of the time my local paper came under fire for doing that very thing, so the next time there were a couple of incidents of minor criminal mischief by teenagers at the local mall (vandalism or something, don't really remember) ... they very carefully referred to the perpetrators of the first incident as "white youths" and the second incident as "suspected gang members." *head desk*

[nenena.livejournal.com]

(*grooooooaaaaaaan*) One step forward and ten steps back, eh?

[liviapenn.livejournal.com]

Yes, I've noticed this about Wikipedia, too. How do you tell from someone's Wikipedia article if they're white? Well, if they're non-white then it's always mentioned, and usually in the first paragraph. But if they're white, then their race isn't mentioned at all.