A theme in the class readings thus far has been the disparity in internet access between the poor and the rich, and to some extent the lack of access minorities experience. The stakeholders in this dilemma are those experiencing differential access, education systems throughout the United States, and internet access providers. People without access to the internet are often left behind in terms of education and opportunity, education depends largely on computer proficiency and those without it are placed far beyond their peers with less acces
A more diverse community in any field greatly benefits those within it, but when it comes to media it also benefits the public. Historically, minorities have been greatly underrepresented in the media, and although journalism and commercial enterprises have greatly diversified, there remains a disparity. Much of the discrepancy in employment relates back to internet access…again.
One of the more persuasive factors in searching for a career is whether or not one is interest. A student, whether it be in elementary school or at a university, forms an interest in something via exposure. Those students with greater access to the internet will encounter more media, and as a result form a greater interest in it. While it remains true that being exposed to the news continuously will not spur everyone to launch into a career in the media, it would create a more educated and interested individual. Poor minority communities are less likely to have constant and consistent access to these media outlets, which perpetuates their lack of involvement in media. The problem of minorities of media is less a problem of exclusion, and having more to do with inclusion. The vast majority of employers do not actively exclude minorities in the hiring process. Hiring initiatives, however, do not go out of their way to employ minorities. Benefits of having access to the minority points of view and opinions are greatly undervalues, not because of racist attitudes, but because they have not been exposed to them. The second part the lack of minority inclusion simply involves numbers. Media publication and broadcasting careers which involve meaningful contributions often require a higher education degree. Minorities graduate from higher education institutions at a disproportionately lower rate than their white peers. There are fewer minority individuals applying for these positions, and thus their input is lost in a sea of others. The good news in all this is that internet access is increasing across the board, and this increased access allows for diverse voices to be heard no matter where they come from. Increasing access to the internet also allows knowledge to trickle down to everyone, creating a more educated and informed populace. The advent of widespread internet access has assured that minority populations will play a much larger role in media to come. Jonathan Sterne examines the structural racism inherent in our society through the context of computer access. He points out the disparity in access to computers, and the racial assumptions apparent in the rhetoric discussing access. While Sterne correctly identifies the discrepancy in computer use between socioeconomic levels, he does not take into account the increased exposure to the internet, and other computer media. He continually associates the technological aid given to students in primarily minority areas with white guilt, implicating the donations of computers in a perpetuation of a racial and social dichotomy.
Sterne concludes that the attempts made at reparations for social constructs fail because they do not take into account the social distinctions which create computer culture. What Sterne identifies as something of a self-fulfilling prophecy of structural racism, is actually an endeavor to close the gap between those with readily available internet access and those without. The motivations of some corporations in their donations to the education system comes with some questions of their honorable intentions, but the result is still one which helps minorities. Sterne addresses a problem which stems from a much larger social issue, but picks at a result of that dilemma. In order to fully understand the implications of disparaging access to the internet and computers in general one must examine the fundamental social stratification. A large portion of the minority population in the United States falls disproportionately at a lower socioeconomic class than their white counterparts. This disparity in income and educational access creates an environment in which social climbing is hard to do. Increasing access to computers, however, provides a space where everyone can interact freely and without the constraints of race and socioeconomics. Access to the internet significantly increases educational exposure. Although those whose families care less about education are less inclined to pursue educational endeavors, exposure to the internet increases the amount of reading and writing they have to do. The rhetoric which Sterne speaks of is another issue entirely. Without a fundamental uprooting of the way the people of the United States think about their speech, the rhetoric can only be changed little by little. Bringing to light the gap in access is the first step in this process, and the continuation of awareness will aid in the correction of racism. |