How well and how fairly do you believe African Americans, Latinos and other ethnic groups are represented in American media?

This question is difficult to answer.  Do we have ethnic broadcasters in America?  Yes.  Do they represent the demographs in America?  I’m not so certain.  I don’t see very many Latinos or Asians in broadcast in the United States. 

I think television balances out the ethnicities a little better.  For example, several sitcoms exist that are aimed at an African American audience and even a Latino audience.  Shows like Tyler Perry and George Lopez.  Even though some of these shows exist, more sitcoms exist with a majority of Caucasian characters.  In fact some of these shows have ethnic characters that are very stereotypical.  Television has some shows that appeal but counter acts that with some clichés.

The music industry is very well rounded.  I can think of several African American artists and even Latino artists that have had huge hits.  Michael Jackson, Usher, and Jay-Z are music stars that are well recognized and have had several top 10 records, and they are all African Americans.  Ricky Martin and Enrique Iglesias are two Latino artists that have been very popular and had success in the United States.

I’m not as well versed in literature in America.  I can state that my own personal experience shows that many of the books I’m familiar with were written by Caucasian women.

I think it’s safe to say that we can use more diversity in the media in the United States.  Opinions from other cultures can only help our perspective.  I also think that the Asian culture is not represented as well as other ethnic cultures.  Perhaps it’s due to the Asian audience not representing enough of the market for advertisers to want to reach.