Reinforcing Stereotypes? Race and Local Television News Coverage of Congress

Objective. Despite the increasingly diverse legislative records of African-American members of Congress, much of the population continues to believe that African-American legislators are interested only in minority issues. If African-American House members are becoming more like their nonblack colleagues, then why do many citizens continue to hold these stereotypes about African-American legislators? Methods. We examine local television news coverage of House members and compare the coverage received by African-American and nonblack incumbents. Results. We find that local television newscasts devote more coverage to African-American members Congress but this coverage is also more race oriented, especially in less diverse markets. In fact, local television stations produce more raceoriented coverage of African-American legislators regardless of their legislative records on minority issues. Conclusions. Local television news stations may be partially responsible for the prevailing stereotype of African-American House members who are narrowly focused on race-oriented issues.