ScholarlyCommons: Repository

Title

Truth, Generalizations, and Stigmas: An Analysis of the Media's Coverage of Morris Brown College and Black Colleges Overall

Author(s)

Marybeth Gasman, University of PennsylvaniaFollow

Document Type

Journal Article

Date of this Version

6-2007

Comments

Truth, Generalizations, and Stigmas: An Analysis of the Media's Coverage of Morris Brown College and Black Colleges Overall by Gasman, Marybeth The Review of Black Political Economy, vol. 34, no. 1-2, pp. 111-147, June 2007

The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com, DOI: 10.1007/s12114-007-9001-z

Abstract

A content analysis of the media’s coverage of Morris Brown College’s situation suggests that the media have made and continues to make generalizations about Black colleges based on the faults of a few. These generalizations call into question the very existence of Black colleges. Although news reports began with appropriate questions about the leadership, financial stability, fundraising ability, and quality of the board of trustees at Morris Brown, they quite frequently attributed the institution’s problems to Black colleges as a whole.