Black and white, male and female: Racial and Gender Differences in Adolescents’ TV Diets

The extent to which gender and race affect the television viewing preferences of adolescents was investigated with a sample of 2,942 seventh and eighth grade public middle school students who completed a mailed media use survey. Of the 140 television shows listed on the questionnaire, only 4 were watched regularly by at least 301f all four demographically different adolescent audience segments (Black females, Black males, White females, White males). Black males and females had more shows in common with each other than Whites, with Black males and females sharing more than half (55%) of their regularly watched shows, while White males and females watched only about one fourth (27%) of the same shows. As expected, females watched shows wiht girls as stars, while males focused on sports and adult animated shows (such as King of the Hill). Implications of these results in terms of a segregated or common media culture are discussed.

Publisher: Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, Marriott Hotel, San Diego, CA, May 27, 2003
Year of Publication: 2003