"Mass media have played and will continue to play a crucial role in the way white Americans perceive African-Americans. As a result of the overwhelming media focus on crime, drug use, gang violence, and other forms of anti-social behavior among African-Americans, the media have fostered a distorted and pernicious public perception of African-Americans".
The Yale Political Quarterly / Read More
http://www.yale.edu/ypq/articles/oct99/oct99b.html