from my perspective…
Media, Diversity, and Negative Perceptions
and Assumptions
By Linda Jimenez
I
Chief Diversity Officer and Staff Vice President—Diversity & Inclusion
WellPoint, Inc.
In the past 50 years,
as technology has made
tremendous advancements,
the power of the media has
also gained increased influence
as more individuals are able to
access real time information
with greater rapidity. Increasingly, we live in a society dependent
on this information and communication to perform our daily
activities. We all make decisions based on the information that
we gather. We live in an age where there are myriad media
sources and, more often than not, these sources carry a bias on
each issue.
As a society, we have put a tremendous amount of trust in the
media as an authority on a broad range of topics, and we rely on
them for accurate information on current events, entertainment,
and education. The media can be a helpful, but equally harmful,
force. The inundation of repetitive messages can develop and
perpetuate negative perceptions and assumptions, as well as
shape our opinions and beliefs—sometimes correctly, other
times incorrectly.
As seasoned diversity practitioners, we stress the importance
of viewing things from different perspectives. The media can
shape our attitudes about a multitude of things from what we
buy, the people we admire (and those we don’t), our perceptions
of political issues like immigration and health care, to social
issues focused on diversity facets such as race, gender, sexual
orientation, and age. We all need to be vigilant, and ensure
that we look for opposing opinions and evaluate the facts for
ourselves, rather than blindly accept one media outlet’s or one
individual’s version of the “truth.”
Journalism is a profession like any other, and certain standards
of quality and professionalism must always be maintained.
At the same time, in this age of prolific media sources and
abundant perspectives, we must all make sure we take time to
find differing viewpoints.
12 Pro f i les i n D i ve rsit y Journal M aY / J u n e 2 0 1 0
After the attacks of 9/11, the media dedicated significant time
and coverage to the event and the surrounding circumstances,
which led to the public’s indictment of Osama Bin Laden for
the attack, and greatly influenced the public’s perception about
the existence of weapons of mass destruction.
Many similarities occurred with regard to the health care
reform debate. While I applaud the attention given to this
important issue, it can be problematic if the media receives
and reports inaccurate information, only shares one side of the
argument, or over-simplifies a complicated subject. This can
inadvertently lead to the propagation of negative perceptions
and assumptions about people and companies, and prevent a
healthy and necessary public forum from occurring.
The health care reform debate is illustrative of how an issue
was distorted or over-simplified, and led to the complete public
polarization on an issue. Instead of objectively looking at the
system’s overall failure, the media became complacent in its
reporting and often remained focused on a few surface issues.
This often resulted in blaming the system’s failure on just one
sector of the health care industry, and reinforced the public’s
negative perception of some health care organizations and the
people who work at these companies.
Omitted from the public discourse were the many other
issues complicating the health care system, as well as the efforts
those within the health care industry made to advance ideas on
best ways to offer quality and affordable health care to more
Americans. The media’s reporting did very little to advance the
public discourse on what health care reform is and how it should
be shaped, and actually limited the public’s knowledge on what
are the real and myriad issues crippling our nation’s system.
Let us remember: generalizations, assumptions, and
perceptions can all be influenced by the media, but it is up to
each of us, as diversity champions, to be diligent in encouraging
the discovery and evaluation of all perspectives, opinions, and
accurate information. PDJ
Linda Jimenez is a native of San Antonio, Texas, and attended
the University of Texas at Austin where she received her B.A.
with honors. She is also a graduate of the University of Texas
School of Law and has spent 20 years specializing in labor
and employment law.