Coloring in the Bubble: Perspectives from Black-Oriented Media on the (Latest) Economic Disaster

Historically, people of color have turned to alternative “ethnic” media to fill in gaps in the record presented by dominant media. However, it is necessary to assess whether these alternative media provide sufficient counternarratives. Such an assessment is even more important now, as media consolidation and multicultural marketing present new opportunities for and pressures on ethnic media, often under the sign of neoliberal and “postracial” progress. I investigate how three media platforms aimed at people of color responded to the mortgage lending crisis and subsequent economic meltdown. I explore whether each outlet provided readers with perspectives rarely found in dominant media reports on the crisis. This exploration yields insights about the production of resistant news narratives, as well as cautions about the limitations of critique found in ethnic media.