Who Said Orange is the New Black?

As Wimmer and Dominick discuss in the Content Analysis excerpt, one way to analyze media is to assess the image of a particular group in society. This analysis can measure things like social trends or media policy toward a certain group.

We are all familiar with the overrepresentation of white males in the media and now more than ever people are starting to speak out about their dominance. For example, the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite started trending on Twitter because for the second year in a row all the nominees were white. 

This realization of the underrepresentation of people of color and other minorities in the media is not a formal content analysis, but it could easily be turned into one if a systematic procedure were used to analyze the content of media in relation to race. People speaking out about this problem can spark changes in social trends or media policy towards people of color and other minorities, which in turn gives us new media that can be analyzed and critiqued in an effort to improve media diversity.

In addition to race, sexual orientation is another hot topic in relation to media representation. Orange is the New Black is currently the most watched series on Netflix and one of the main themes in this series is same-sex relationships. This popular Netflix series has peaked at the same time the same-sex legislation discussion peaked. A content analysis of this show would likely reveal a pattern in how popular media and public opinion depend on each other. 

Quantitative research methods like those discussed in the Jackson excerpt could be used to compare the rate of public acceptance of lesbian and gay couples with the prevalence of same sex couples in the media. If a positive correlation was found between these two categories, this would suggest that popular media has an influence on social trends and vice versa.

It wasn’t until 1972 that the first TV movie dealing with the subject of homosexuality was released (Gays in Pop Culture ). In just a little more than forty years, that once unheard of scene is completely acceptable.

It is important to understand how media changes in response to public opinion, or the opinion of those who control the media. Content analysis allows us to consider this relationship and understand how the changes in public opinion could be harmful or beneficial.

Is it good that media is portraying same-sex couples because it gives them the equality they deserve? Or is it promoting an immoral act that undermines the importance of traditional marriage? How is this shaping public opinion and is it harmful or beneficial to society? Content analysis provides the answers to these questions.