The Influence of News on Implicit Racial Prejudice

The current study examined the degree to which different media sources moderate spontaneous racial biases, as measured by the Implicit Association Task (IAT). White subjects were exposed to either an MSNBC or a Fox News media clip discussing the same current racial issue, however they presented race from differing perspectives. Following the media clip, subjects completed a race IAT and then completed two explicit measures of prejudice. Results demonstrate that white participants had a significant spontaneous racial bias, however neither of the media conditions moderated racial prejudice. Furthermore, there were no significant correlations between the implicit and explicit measures. Limitations are discussed to better understand the results and where this study fell short. I also discuss future directions and how the present study could be modified in order for the hypothesis to be supported