Jeanne Yang
Pronouns: she/her
Research Mentor(s): Melissa Borja
Co-Presenter:
Research Mentor School/College/Department: American Culture / LSA
Presentation Date: April 20
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: Session 3 – 1:40pm – 2:30 pm
Room: League Ballroom
Authors: Jeanne Yang, Melissa Borja
Presenter: 69
Abstract
The issue of anti-Asian racism has been widely reported in news media during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the same period, Asian American organizations and activists have mobilized to fight against racism. This project investigated news coverage of anti-Asian hate incidents and considered whether a rise in news coverage coincided with an increase in Asian American community responses against hate. To do so, it examined news coverage of incidents of anti-Asian hate and Asian American activism that occurred in the United States between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2020 and were reported in print journalism and TV/radio broadcasting. A timeline of 2,354 news media mentions of harassment incidents was compared to a timeline of 128 response actions by community organizations and activists. This project found that news reporting of anti-Asian hate incidents peaked in the first few months of the pandemic and coincided with a peak in community response incidents. In the rest of 2020, both stayed relatively low, with some small differences. The relationship between news coverage and the timing of response incidents suggests that news reporting may play a role in activism and driving community organizations’ responses to racism.
Arts and Humanities, Interdisciplinary
