Native Americans and Native Americans and the Modern Mediathe Modern Media

Group 2Group 2Allison Baca Anna “Scruffy” Elledge

Walter Crasshole Asya Soloian

Stephen “Mother Theresa” Lam

The Journal Record- Our The Journal Record- Our Case StudyCase Study

– The tone of the newspaper was generally neutral in articles about Native American issues, but the demographic of the paper is not your typical Oklahoman. Majority of residents have no higher than a high school diploma, according to the US Census. The writing was not tailored for the Native reader.

– The Journal Record in Oklahoma City is what we studied for coverage of Native Americans in the media. It generally covers business, legal and legislative news.

– Majority of subscribers have a bachelor’s degree or graduate degree and work in top management positions.

– Majority of articles that we read were regarding a tobacco tax dispute between Native American retailer sand the state govt. Most of the stories were related to legislature and the courts, and few Native American sources if any were cited.

– Since it is a business and legal newspaper, lingo was very neutral and professional; without prejudice.

The Journal RecordThe Journal Record“The Best Source of Oklahoma Business “The Best Source of Oklahoma Business

News and Information” News and Information” • Their mission is to be Oklahoma’s foremost

influential and trusted information service. Their commitment is to serve their audiences with quality products and timely, accurate information that helps them gain success.

• The Journal Record covers general business news, legislative and legal-related information sources, and they produce industry related publications, an example being that the majority of our stories were in regards to tobacco taxes.

The Journal Record The Journal Record DemographicsDemographics

• Demographics on readers:

• 98% of our subscribers ranked the paper "good to excellent" as a source for Oklahoma City business and legal news.

• 88% are in professional or top management positions. • 85% have an undergraduate or graduate degree. • The average subscriber's total household net worth exceeds $1.8

million. • 86% of subscribers are repeat subscribers. • The Journal Record subscriber is an educated, affluent homeowner. • 31% hold master's/doctorate degrees. • They have an average household income of $153,000. • 95% are homeowners. • 27% own a second/vacation home. • Their homes have a median market value of $189,000. • They have an average age of 49.

Okay, so you gave me a bunch of Okay, so you gave me a bunch of numbers- what’s the point?numbers- what’s the point?

• The Journal Record prides itself on “focusing on local business trends and in depth stories that portray the voice of the Oklahoma City and Tulsa business communities.”

• DO THEY? Asian 7,1501.8

Native Hawaiian and other Pacific islander 2020.1

Some other race 13,5643.5

• White 275,48870.1

Black or African American 60,79415.5

American Indian and Alaska native 18,5514.7

•

Number of Non Native American Number of Non Native American SourcesSources

Number of Non-Native American Sources

013%

139%2

26%

311%

47%

54%

012345

Category FrequencyCategory Frequency

Category Frequency

Art4% Casinos/gaming

11%

economics/business31%

education2%

health4%

history2%

social problems2%

sovereignty9%

Tobacco25%

Tribal politics2%

Un/employment2%

19 Land2%

19 profile4%

Tone of the ArticlesTone of the Articles

12

9

26

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Positive Negative Neutral

Tone

SectionSectionSection

main98%

Opinion/Editorial/Commentary (Columns)

2%

Number of Native American Number of Native American SourcesSources

Number of Native American Sources

59%

28%

7%

4%2%

01234

Non-Native American Sources

13%

87%

noyes

ARTICLE LENGTHARTICLE LENGTHArticle Length

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

Article Number

Word

Cou

nt

• There is a historical relationship between Native Americans and tobacco, in that Natives were the first to give tobacco to the Europeans.

American Spirit Cigarette Brand

The Company American Spirit Tobacco Co., a Santa Fe, NM based product, is under fire from an American Indian Group for being “misleading and exploitive.”

The logo -- depicting an American Indian in full-feathered headdress smoking a peace pipe -- is carried on the packages of Natural American Spirit cigarettes and pipe tobacco.

Natural American Spirit's logo: A stereotypical "Indian chief" smoking a sacred pipe. This image confuses Native Americans' traditional use of tobacco for ceremonial and religious purposes with the addictive use of commercial tobacco. It demeans Native American cultures and traditions.

Typography: So What?Typography: So What?

The typography on the Natural

American Spirit packaging is called“Neuland” and is a wood-cut styleof typeface. It is often used to create an “exotic” or “primitive”look. This is the idea of “stereotypography” a term coined by Rob Giampietro; anothersubtle way that Native Americans are exploited through this brand.Is our type font for this presentationan example of this “stereotypography?”

From the voice of the “Natural American Spirit” BrandFrom the voice of the “Natural American Spirit” Brand

• They established the Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company Foundation in 1997.

• The non-profit provides grants to preserve, promote and advance American Indian self-sufficiency, language and culture.

• They make donations to such organizations as the American Indian College Fund and the Indigenous Languages Institute.

“Natural American Spirit: Its Only Natural”

Natural American Spirit advertises that their tobacco products contain only whole-leaf tobacco without any additives.

The company even claims that they donate a portion of their profits to Native American charities, an interesting twist for a company that so blatantly exploits the “natural” image of the Native American in its sales pitch, with cartoon like imagery and stereotypical, sometimes “red-faced” statues and images on their advertisements and in front of their smoke shops, as seen to the right.