Transcript Native Americans and the Modern Media

Native Americans and the
Modern Media
Group 2
Allison Baca
Anna “Scruffy” Elledge
Walter Crasshole
Asya Soloian
Stephen “Mother Theresa” Lam
The Journal Record- Our Case
Study
– The tone of the newspaper was generally neutral in articles about
Native American issues, but the demographic of the paper is not
your typical Oklahoman. Majority of residents have no higher than
a high school diploma, according to the US Census. The writing
was not tailored for the Native reader.
– The Journal Record in Oklahoma City is what we studied for
coverage of Native Americans in the media. It generally covers
business, legal and legislative news.
– Majority of subscribers have a bachelor’s degree or graduate
degree and work in top management positions.
– Majority of articles that we read were regarding a tobacco tax
dispute between Native American retailer sand the state govt.
Most of the stories were related to legislature and the courts, and
few Native American sources if any were cited.
– Since it is a business and legal newspaper, lingo was very neutral
and professional; without prejudice.
The Journal Record
“The Best Source of Oklahoma Business News
and Information”
• Their mission is to be Oklahoma’s foremost
influential and trusted information service. Their
commitment is to serve their audiences with quality
products and timely, accurate information that helps
them gain success.
• The Journal Record covers general business news,
legislative and legal-related information sources, and
they produce industry related publications, an
example being that the majority of our stories were in
regards to tobacco taxes.
The Journal Record
Demographics
• Demographics on readers:
• 98% of our subscribers ranked the paper "good to excellent" as a
source for Oklahoma City business and legal news.
• 88% are in professional or top management positions.
• 85% have an undergraduate or graduate degree.
• The average subscriber's total household net worth exceeds $1.8
million.
• 86% of subscribers are repeat subscribers.
• The Journal Record subscriber is an educated, affluent homeowner.
• 31% hold master's/doctorate degrees.
• They have an average household income of $153,000.
• 95% are homeowners.
• 27% own a second/vacation home.
• Their homes have a median market value of $189,000.
• They have an average age of 49.
Okay, so you gave me a bunch of numbers- what’s the
point?
• The Journal Record prides itself on “focusing on local business trends and in
depth stories that portray the voice of the Oklahoma City and Tulsa business
communities.”
•
DO THEY? Asian
7,150
1.8
Native Hawaiian and other Pacific islander
202
0.1
Some other race
13,564
3.5
•
White
275,488
70.1
Black or African American
60,794
15.5
American Indian and Alaska native
18,551
Number of Non Native American
Sources
Number of Non-Native American Sources
4
7%
5
4%
0
13%
3
11%
0
1
2
3
4
5
2
26%
1
39%
Category Frequency
Category Frequency
19 profile
4%
19 Land
2%
Un/employment
2%
Art
4%
Tribal politics
2%
Casinos/gaming
11%
Tobacco
25%
economics/business
31%
sovereignty
9%
education
2%
social problems
2%
history
2%
health
4%
Tone of the Articles
Tone
30
26
25
20
12
15
9
10
5
0
Positive
Negative
Neutral
Section
Section
Opinion/Editorial/Comm
entary (Columns)
2%
main
98%
Number of Native American
Sources
Non-Native American Sources
Number of Native American Sources
4%
2%
13%
7%
0
1
2
3
4
28%
no
yes
59%
87%
ARTICLE LENGTH
Article Length
1400
1200
800
600
400
200
Article Number
60
58
56
54
51
49
48
46
44
42
39
37
35
34
32
30
27
25
23
21
19
16
14
0
11
Word Count
1000
• There is a historical relationship
between Native Americans and
tobacco, in that Natives were the first to
give tobacco to the Europeans.
American Spirit Cigarette Brand
The Company American Spirit Tobacco
Co., a Santa Fe, NM based product, is
under fire from an American Indian Group
for being “misleading and exploitive.”
The logo -- depicting an American Indian
in full-feathered headdress smoking a
peace pipe -- is carried on the packages
of Natural American Spirit cigarettes and
pipe tobacco.
Natural American Spirit's logo: A
stereotypical "Indian chief" smoking a
sacred pipe. This image confuses Native
Americans' traditional use of tobacco for
ceremonial and religious purposes with
the addictive use of commercial tobacco.
It demeans Native American cultures and
traditions.
Typography: So What?
The typography on the Natural
American Spirit packaging is called
“Neuland” and is a wood-cut style
of typeface. It is often used to
create an “exotic” or “primitive”
look. This is the idea of
“stereotypography” a term coined
by Rob Giampietro; another
subtle way that Native Americans
are exploited through this brand.
Is our type font for this presentation
an example of this “stereotypography?”
From the voice of the “Natural American Spirit” Brand
•
•
•
They established the Santa Fe Natural
Tobacco Company Foundation in
1997.
The non-profit provides grants to
preserve, promote and advance
American Indian self-sufficiency,
language and culture.
They make donations to such
organizations as the American Indian
College Fund and the Indigenous
Languages Institute.
“Natural American Spirit: Its
Only Natural”
Natural American Spirit advertises
that their tobacco products contain
only whole-leaf tobacco without any
additives.
The company even claims that they
donate a portion of their profits to
Native American charities, an
interesting twist for a company that
so blatantly exploits the “natural”
image of the Native American in its
sales pitch, with cartoon like imagery
and stereotypical, sometimes “redfaced” statues and images on their
advertisements and in front of their
smoke shops, as seen to the right.