Reading response Week 10

Page 652, #1
Carr article


The argument being made by Carr is that even though our nation has veered away from race being an issue, magazine covers are still not featuring minorities on the covers nearly as much as they should. Our country has seen a huge growth in nonwhite citizens but this is not being reflected in mainstream magazines. The fact that it was in the business section of the newspaper suggests that they’re treating this matter in a consumer-like way instead of a human way. The article makes it a point to say the reason why black people aren’t featured on covers as much is because sales go down. They interviewed editors in chief and directors of big magazines and authors for opinions and statements. If the article were written for the lifestyle section, the interviewees probably would have been the more common person; a typical middle or lower class black American. The reason for this is because in comparison to the business section, the Lifestyle section likely gets more of these average American readers. In the business section, you’re targeting corporate America and saying “Here’s the facts and the stats.” In the Lifestyle section, you’re targeting Americans in general and saying, “Hey, this is a problem. There’s still very much a racial issue present in this field.” This would probably elicit a response from minority people of wanting equality no matter what the predicted sales of the magazine were. In contrast, Business readers might respond with a “Hmm, that’s interesting.”