Race and Ethnicity in Television Entertainment Shows

1) Ethnic and Visible Minorities in Entertainment Media
http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/ethnics_and_minorities/minorities_entertainment.cfm

This website provided useful insight into Canadian entertainment and the appearance of racial and ethnic minorities on entertainment shows and in video games. There are a number of interesting statistics posted, as well as views from both sides: those who think there is substantial representation of racial minorities in television and those that think there either isn’t enough or racial minorities are undermined in entertainment television. The main point here seems to be that if there is ethnic representation of race in entertainment television, then it is at a very superficial level, and though it is clear that minorities have entered television, the diversity is not celebrated. In addition to providing useful information, there are also a number of related links in the form of reports and articles.

2) Racism, Ethnicity and Television
http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/R/htmlR/racismethni/racismethni.htm

This link provides an informative though biased essay informing the reader as to why there is little representation of ethnic and racial minorities in popular American entertainment. This website is very useful if a person is seeking research about this particular “side”, but will be of no use if looking for information regarding the plentiful use of different races and ethnicities in entertainment television. It is well thought out and very thorough, but as I mentioned, also very biased.

3) Does TV shape Ethnic Images?
http://www.medialit.org/reading_room/article388.html

This report is different from the other two I looked into. This website did not offer one or both sides of the debate about whether racial images were fairly represented by characterization and how often they appeared in a show, but instead interviewed a group of high schoolers of all different races and asked them questions about the different races that appear on popular television shows. The website displays analysis of the results, plus discussion of the who’s and the what’s and they why’s. This site is useful if you are researching on this topic.