Race, Racial Resentment, Attentiveness to the News Media, and Public Opinion Toward the Jena Six

Datos Bibliográficos

ID10764677
AutoresKirby Goidel (0000-0002-2696-5463, Louisiana State University), Wayne Parent (Louisiana State University), Bob Mann, B Pickman Mann (Louisiana State University)
Año2011
Volumen92
Número1
Páginas20-34
Fecha de publicación2011-03-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaSocial Science Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0038-4941 • E-ISSN: 1540-6237
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1540-6237.2011.00755.x
PMID21523945
OpenAlexW1864379946
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas11
Referencias citadas46

Objective. We outline the role of race, racial resentment, and attentiveness to news in structuring public opinion toward the prosecution of the Jena Six, the name given to six African‐American high school students who beat a white student, five of whom were subsequently charged with attempted second‐degree murder. Method. We rely on a telephone survey of 428 registered voters collected in the aftermath of the protests in Jena, Louisiana. Results. Public reactions were heavily filtered by race and associated with measures of racial resentment. African Americans followed news about the protests more closely, believed race was the most important consideration in the decision to prosecute, and believed the decision to prosecute was the wrong decision. Racially conservative white respondents were less likely to believe race was the most important consideration in the decision to prosecute and were more likely to believe that the decision to prosecute was the right decision. Consistent with theories of agenda setting and framing, attentiveness to the news influenced perceptions regarding the importance of race in the decision to prosecute but not whether the decision was the right decision. Conclusions. At least within the context of the Deep South, race and racial attitudes continue to be an important predictor of public reactions to racially charged events. Attentiveness to the news influenced the lens through which events were interpreted, but not perceptions of whether the outcome was the right decision

Criminology · Media studies · News media · Political science · Politics · Public opinion · Race (biology) · Resentment · Sociology · Gender Studies · Law · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Psychology · Risk Perception and Management · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Psychology