Approaching race in media industries research

This chapter reflects upon the growing body of race and production studies that explores the dynamics of race in the context of media industries. This relatively new field speaks directly to issues of “diversity” that are high on media/cultural policy agendas. But it is also focused on the issue of representation, thinking through how production processes and the racial/ethnic makeup of the creative workforce shape the depictions of racially marginalized groups. In this chapter I outline an approach to studying race in media industries. This demands equal attention paid to both structure/agency and the macro/micro. Indeed, I suggest that race and production studies would benefit from paying greater attention to the macro/structural dimensions that shape cultural production. In doing so, the chapter highlights what a critical media industry perspective can bring to the broader study of race and media. But in addition, the chapter demonstrates how a focus on race can illuminate the operation of power in media industries more generally. In particular, it argues that rather than a by-product of a capitalistic media system, racism is itself a structuring force upon cultural production.