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Pepin’s study shows racial bias in celebrity domestic abuse media coverage

Black men more likely to be presented as criminals than White men

In a study that examined 330 news articles about celebrity offences between 2009 and 2011, student affiliate Joanna Pepin explains two key findings, “First, when the media reports on domestic violence, men's violence is more likely to be portrayed as a criminal act when the celebrity is black than when the celebrity is white. Secondly, reports are more likely to include excuses for men's violence against women when the coverage is of a white celebrity than when the celebrity is black.”

Through this research, Pepin also shows that substance abuse and anger, conventionally used to perpetuate stereotypes of addiction and violence among Black men, are actually portrayed as excuses for violent behavior for White men, without the accompanied stigmatization. Therefore, celebrity domestic violence receives less media scrutiny for White celebrities than Black celebrities, which may perpetuate existing racial stereotypes, and trivialize offences against women when the offender is a White man. 

See complete story in Phys.org