Race Below the Fold: Race-Evasiveness in the News Media's Coverage of Student Loans. EdWorkingPaper No. 23-771
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| Title: | Race Below the Fold: Race-Evasiveness in the News Media's Coverage of Student Loans. EdWorkingPaper No. 23-771 |
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| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Dominique J. Baker, Lauren Mena Shook, Jaime Ramirez-Mendoza, Christopher T. Bennett, Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University |
| Source: | Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University. 2023. |
| Availability: | Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University. Brown University Box 1985, Providence, RI 02912. Tel: 401-863-7990; Fax: 401-863-1290; e-mail: annenberg@brown.edu; Web site: https://annenberg.brown.edu/ |
| Peer Reviewed: | N |
| Page Count: | 61 |
| Publication Date: | 2023 |
| Sponsoring Agency: | Russell Sage Foundation National Academy of Education (NAEd) Spencer Foundation |
| Document Type: | Reports - Research |
| Education Level: | Higher Education Postsecondary Education |
| Descriptors: | Race, Student Financial Aid, Loan Repayment, Loan Default, Debt (Financial), News Reporting, Language Usage, Racism, Blacks, African American Students, Mass Media Effects, Policy Formation, Natural Language Processing, Computational Linguistics, Social Differences, Racial Differences, Black Colleges, White Students, Minority Group Students, Word Frequency, Newspapers, Paying for College, Educational Policy |
| Abstract: | The media discourse on student loans plays a significant role in the way that policy actors conceptualize challenges and potential solutions related to student debt. This study examines the racialized language in student loan news articles published in eight major news outlets between 2006 and 2021. We found that 18% of articles use any racialized language, though use has accelerated since 2018. This increase appears to be driven by terms that denote groups of people instead of structural problems, with 8% of articles mentioning "Black" but less than 1% mentioning "racism." These findings emphasize the importance of treating the media as a policy actor capable of shaping the salience of racialization in discussions about student loans. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2025 |
| Accession Number: | ED672268 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | The media discourse on student loans plays a significant role in the way that policy actors conceptualize challenges and potential solutions related to student debt. This study examines the racialized language in student loan news articles published in eight major news outlets between 2006 and 2021. We found that 18% of articles use any racialized language, though use has accelerated since 2018. This increase appears to be driven by terms that denote groups of people instead of structural problems, with 8% of articles mentioning "Black" but less than 1% mentioning "racism." These findings emphasize the importance of treating the media as a policy actor capable of shaping the salience of racialization in discussions about student loans. |
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