News Media Apologies for Racist Coverage

Abstract

Many institutions, including governments, universities and corporations are confronting their involvement in slavery and racial discrimination and grappling with the issue of reparations. But what about the responsibility of news media? Should news organizations apologize for racist coverage? What should such an apology look like? This study looks at three case studies of publications that apologized publicly for their contributions to slavery, racism and racially motivated violence. It reviews the elements of an effective apology and then evaluates each publication’s statement on those parameters. It compares and contrasts these efforts and discusses potential best practices for publications considering apologies in the future.

Keywords:

• Apology
• journalism
• newspaper
• race
• racism