Segregation and Friends

Recently, Glenn Beck sat on the comfy couch of Fox's morning show Fox & Friends and declared that President Obama is a racist who hates white culture.   Of the three hosts who convened this broadcast gem, the one who disagreed with Beck -- Brian Kilmeade -- had recently declared on air that the white race in America had been weakened through interbreeding with non-whites, a statement for which he apologized after it sparked wide-scale outrage.  So on this particular morning, viewers who tuned into Fox & Friends watched a host who espouses white Aryan eugenics mix it up with a guest inciting white anger at blacks, followed by some tips on summertime grilling. 

The fact that brand management rules broadcast media -- particularly at Fox -- leads me to question whether the segregationist flavor of Fox's morning could possibly be accidental.  Is it possible that nobody at Fox had an inkling about Kilmeade's belief in racial purity prior to his blurting it out on air?  They had to know.  A man who gleefully turns to the camera and bemoans racial mixing is also a guy who spouts off eugenic theories at parties and office meetings.  Fox knew about Kilmeade's views and they kept him on air anyway. 

The same is true of Beck's foolish idea that President Obama hates white culture.  The only way the bookers and marketing folks at Fox & Friends could not know Beck plays to segregationist fears of blacks when talking about the president is if they have all been in a coma for the past year.  And yet they booked him anyway, putting him on set for a chat with a guy who thinks that white blood in America has been contaminated by miscegenation. 

A morning show that positions itself to appeal to whites uncomfortable with the idea of racial integration in America? So long as the numbers are solid, the media brand experts would say, why the heck not?

When media marketing and segregation mix, the result is not segments about burning crosses, but something that might be described as: segregated content.  Imagine what media content would look like if the broad social efforts to rid American society of persistent racism never happened and the result would be segregated content.

But there is no need to imagine. Just take a look at Fox & Friends' homepage and  you will see segregated content in action.

The Fox & Friends homepage this morning included 41 photographs of faces.  Of those 41, 37 are of people who are racially white, three are African-American, one is Asian.  Of the 41 faces, 11 are women, all are white.  10 out of 11 women have blond or light hair (the only dark-haired woman was in an ad).  Of the three black males pictured on the Fox & Friends homepage, two were criminals: a boy accused of stealing and a football player jailed for dogfighting (Michael Vick).  The third black male depicted was a "Grill Sergeant"--a soldier offering tips on barbecue.

To call this kind of content "racist" and leave it at that would be to miss the key point.  The Fox & Friends homepage on this day was not merely offensive or callous towards African-Americans in a thoughtless way on the order of "Whoops!  I didn't mean to say that."  Rather, it was a consciously structured media product: an Internet platform populated with segregated content, tailored to meet the expectations of an audience that enjoys seeing a segregated vision of America as white men and blond women, with a few black criminals, athletes, and short-order cooks thrown in for color.  

Apologizing for a few comments on air did not change Fox & Friends' brand identity. And it will not change.  In the media business, the only time a brand changes is when it stops earning.

In this brand context it was inevitable that the political ideas which give rise to white segregation would occasionally find their way onto the Fox & Friends set.  As offensive as Kilmeade's and Beck's comments were to hundreds of millions of Americans, those kinds of segregationist comments did not offend the segment of the public that matters to Fox & Friends: the demographic the brand has been crafted to please. 

In the twentieth century, when the Civil Rights movement began, segregation in America was on the streets.  To confront it, anti-segregation activists used lunch counters, sit-ins, and highway protests.  But what do Americans do to combat twenty-first century segregation manufactured by the branding machine that drives market differentiation in the media?  Not much.

The sad fact is that while legal segregation might have ended in the streets of America, media segregation is alive, kicking, and delivering to the bottom line in the Fox boardroom.  And as long as there are enough Americans who like what they see (e.g., blond woman, blond woman, blond woman ... black male criminal), enough ad revenue to be mopped up doing it, and virtually no choice as to how we get our cable content delivered -- that segregation will continue to thrive. 

So, welcome to the 1950s.  Segregation is alive and well on cable TV.

(cross posted from Frameshop)

Follow Jeffrey Feldman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JeffreyFeldman

Comments

[darker]

It's NOT JUST "all about race"!

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20090728_america_the_great_police_state/

[ringo3khan]

Something that struck me after thinking about this article is that, particularly in "fly over country" it isn't just that Segregation lives on the T.V.; it's a way of life for most people. It always has been and it probably always will be so it shouldn't come as any surprise that Fox has found a niche market to exploit that identifies with the images and reporting that Fox presents. That's no more surprising than the fact that Blacks watch BET and that Hispanics watch Telemundo. Ah, but there is the old problem revisited again isn't there. That problem is that it's o.k. to vilify the Fox audience because they're white people notwithstanding the fact that they aren't doing anything different from Hispanics who tune in to Telemundo everyday to watch everything from the Novellas to the news to the entertainment specials. Interesting isn't it how it's o.k. for Hispanics and Blacks to live largely segregated lives watching largely segregated content on T.V. but it isn't o.k. for whites. In a more balanced world people might call that "unfair".

[MoreLiberalWithAge]

The difference is that Fox presents itself as "fair and balanced" and pretends in its advertising that it is not just for white male conservatives. It claims the mainstream for itself, then presents an image of the mainstream as white only. In contrast, BET and Telemundo make no bones about targeting a specific population. These networks do not claim to be mainstream, and no one would ever mistake them for representing majority opinion.

The truth is, the demographics of America are changing. I'm a WASP woman and though I have dark hair, I'm incapable of getting a tan. In 50 years, people like me will be the minority in this country. We can react to that reality like children, fear the change in status quo and scream and yell about reverse racism, or we can welcome the new citizenry and reap the benefits of a wider range of views and experience. I'm glad we have a black president. But I'm even happier that we have a president who understands the law, understands people, and is designing strategic solutions to complex problems.

[dieselis]

There have been all white tv and tv shows always. Your comparisons seem bogus. If you desire to be a bigot and/or racist freedom of speech shouldn't be denied to you. How long before your free speech become aggressive and provacative acts of violence and unfair treatment towards those you speak about. I'am lucky to have been raised by somone who taught us to accept people for who they are, even racist. Thank GOD for all the people who've taken the time to live the dream and befriended people of all colors and hues from all walks of life. You find we are all very similar just like all blood is red. This is no harmless creature Fox is producing. We've already seen a touch of the adverse effects. These entertainers coward out on responsibility because they didn't pull the trigger. They simply manipulated a weak and/or disturbed mind.

[Garioch]

So you have BET catering mainly to a Black audience, Telemundo catering mainly to a Hispanic or Spanish speaking audience and FOX catering to the hard of thinking, bigoted White audience, don't even attempt to tell me that there is any serious comparison there or lack of programming for a White audience on the other channels because there is not.
What you have is a lack of crass bigotry on the other channels that a sub section of the White audience want and get increasingly from FOX but to compare that with regular programming catering to a minority in the culture is hysterical.
Regular TV is largely segregated for a White audience and very largely English speaking. That's why you have BET and Telemundo. Don't attempt to lump them in with the rancid and snide bigotry of FOX because there is no parity there at all unless you're attempting to say that a part of being White is being a right wing bigot.

[yliza]

Not all Blacks watch BET. Any network that airs something called "Hot Ghetto Mess" doesn't sound all that race-friendly to me.

[ringo3khan]

It's not; it's just another version of the soft bigotry that exists in virtually every racial grouping in this country. Believe me there's more than enough hate to go around; the difference is that one persons hatred is another persons justifiable outrage over perceived victimization.

[ObliqueReference]

One of the best editorials on HuffPo in a while. Expertly elucidates how fox has found its niche and can be as offensive as it pleases w/o consequences.

[Darthwave]

Unfortunately FNC is only one cog in Rupert Murdoch media dominated empire. In the end they are just a business catering a product to a market. Should we be disturbed by the fact that a conservative news outlet pushes a right wing racist agenda or the fact there are millions out there who are falling over-themselves to hear that message. The fact that FNC is so popular goes to show that this country still has a long way to go before coming a post-racial society.

[JT212]

Nice article, but some of you seem surprised like this is some kind of incredible expose of the motivations behind Faux News. I thought it was simply generally understood that Fox "News" is the media outlet for paranoid, ignorant white supremacists. When did this become a newsflash? Not like they're trying to hide it.

[lesterbud]

Thank you Mr. Feldman - an excellent article.

I have been struggling with a way to describe the overall content design at Fox News. Knowing it was more "white-centric" than blatantly racist, knowing it was not exactly anti-women, but was openly sexist, it was hard to pin a label on them.

But your description of "consciously structured media product: an Internet platform populated with segregated content, tailored to meet the expectations of an audience that enjoys seeing a segregated vision of America as white men and blond women, with a few black criminals, athletes, and short-order cooks thrown in for color.", really hit it dead on.

Fox News provides "segregated content", not news. Not unlike The Home Shopping Network hawking cheap jewelry for hours, or ESPN Classic airing reruns of old college football games, FN has simply chosen a demographic (albeit an ugly and disgusting one) at designed specific content to please that demographic.

[Quitcherbichin]

The "ugly and disgusting" demographic you allude to must be enormous as Fox news draws more viewers than CNN and MSNBC combined, and consistently beats the big 3 broadcast networks. I really don't understand all the whining that goes on on this site about white people gravitating to a certain perspective. I don't hear anyone complaining about the Black Entertainment Network. Go figure.

[yliza]

"I don't hear anyone complaining about the Black Entertainment Network. Go figure."

You don't hear it because you don't read to Black bloggers. There was a huge unfavorable reaction in the Afrosphere to the proposed show "Hot Ghetto Mess" on BET.

I'll bet you didn't even know the Afrosphere existed. But guess what: anti-racists of all colors and genders actually communicate amongst each other all over the blogosphere. If you bothered to look you might know what Black people (and Hispanics and Asians etc etc) really think.

[yliza]

Read, not read to, but y'all probably parsed that.

[ccoppe]

GM should be at the top of everyone's boycott list as most easily influenced:

We OWN them!

[OnReflection]

Every one is exclusively focusing on the Fox network, That attention should be redirected to the orchestrator behind this mid evil anti -American conglomerate,

Rupert Murdoch !!

Rupert Murdoch has made it his business, To appeal to the lowest common denominator in this country, and line his pockets at the expense of the cohesion of our society!

Profit at all cost!

[TheUnknownSoldier]

So have the insurance companies, which do you think we should focus on?

[tantrictim]

first of all, great article, one of the best at deciphering the dog-whistle code of faux news, but i was under the impression that the fcc monitored all american media, so if janet jackson's wardrobe malfunction caused such a stir at the fcc, why do they not act on racism complaints against the murdoch empire in a more forthright manner?

[CrackerJacker]

Because proclivity and lewdness are of much greater concern to the FCC. At least, on shows where supporters of the GOP are likely to be tuning in, like the Superbowl, for example. Perhaps there's a question to be answered about where the FCC's greater loyalties lie.

[Quitcherbichin]

Are you advocating free speech for everyone but white people?

[EllenNewsHound]

You're right on the money about the segregated Fox brand... but it goes way beyond Fox & Friends and Beck. Sean Hannity is undoubtedly the worst offender, especially with his guest/pal Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson
http://www.newshounds.us/2008/08/07/could_sean_hannitys_bigoted_double_standard_be_any_plainer_here.php

O'Reilly is another one, though I think less mean-spirited about it than Hannity and Beck:
http://www.newshounds.us/2007/09/26/so_a_white_guy_walks_into_a_restaurant_in_harlem.php

And then there are the contributors:
http://www.newshounds.us/2009/03/18/bernard_goldberg_complains_about_the_liberal_bias_in_oreillys_dictionary.php

http://www.newshounds.us/2006/11/17/mark_fuhrman_freaks_out_over_oj_simpson.php

[pene]

D@mn well said!

[Jay Lewis]

To decipher where we are as a nation, one might note the completely blithe storyboard presented to us that the media, a group of corporations, are the controllers--the deciders-- of whether or not the various competing hate-mongers be permitted to undeniably incite incindiary racist rhetoric or not, and with a complete lack of shame, agree that the decision will probably go the way of most of our current cultural calls, that the bottom line IS the bottom line. Gerald Ford, back when, pardoned Nixon and declared that the business of America is business.

During the civil rights era citizens, through participatory democracy, appealed to our leaders--the state and federal governments--to address these throwback cultural tumors and, through legislation, excise them from the body politic.

Who would have ever thunk that racism and human civil rights in America would become privatized?

[kwijibo]

I find it virtually impossible to believe that Barack Obama is a self-hating, anti-white racist.

To say that this Fox & Friends show was offensive to "hundreds of millions" of Americans is disingenuous. "Fox & Friends" doesn't even get a million viewers on any given day.

[jb451]

I'm not going to read four pages of comments to make sure no one has mentioned this, but the original article failed to mention the "All-American Summer" section of the page which featured six pictures of white males, at least four of them singers in the "Southern Fried" tradition of rock. I'm really not sure how to classify Sugar Ray and Creed. There are no women, no minorities, no one but mostly Southern white males who should be celebrated as "All-American?" That's the sort of insidious, creeping racism that should chill anyone observing Fox to the bone.

[steel71]

Great, maybe we can get some white people on the Harlem Globetrotters.

[BryantG]

why not?

[handesmith]

Look up the history of the Globetrotters. We are barely half a century away from a time when blacks and whites couldn't be on the same sports teams. If ignorance was painful, health care reform would pass in a week.

[Downix]

Too late, the first White Globetrotter, Bob Karstens, actually died in 2004. he created such tricks as the yo-yo backetball and the magic circle routine popular with the team today.

[1088]

We need the FCC involve and sent letters to the sponsors. We cannot sit on the side lines and watch these people destroy our Country. I don't want anybody harming the Obama family.

[kwijibo]

For what it's worth, let's ask the elder statesman of the Senate, Democrat Robert Byrd how he feels about the very same subject.

[ESerafina42]

Yeah, yeah, we know - he belonged to the KKK a million years ago - in his 20s, unlike Republicans, whose "youthful indiscretions" generally occur in their 50s.

From Wikipedia: Byrd has since explicitly renounced his earlier views on racial segregation. Byrd said that he regrets filibustering and voting against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and would change it if he had the opportunity. He has stated that joining the KKK was "the greatest mistake I ever made".

Jefferson (Davis) Beauregard Sessions III, on the other hand, is STILL where Byrd was in the 50s and 60s.