Stanford researchers find news coverage in Chicago disproportionately devalues Black and Hispanic lives

Social scientists found that homicide victims killed in Chicago’s predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhoods received less news coverage than those killed in mostly white neighborhoods.

The recent deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery added new momentum to the Black Lives Matter social movement in the United States. But Stanford researchers have found that local news media have not treated Black and Hispanic lives as equal in value to white lives in stories.

Forrest Stuart, associate professor of sociology in Stanford’s School of Humanities and Sciences, worked with University of Chicago researchers Kailey White and Shannon L. Morrissey to quantify how local news organizations cover homicide victims in minority neighborhoods.

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